Crystalline Blue Waters
by Ladiosabri
Summary: Daniel Jackson is at long last living the life of his dreams. He's married to Adrienne, the woman he never thought existed, a father to a precocious son, and commander of the Atlantis city station. But the Pegasus they left behind is not the one they are returning to... (Sequel to Surprise Package)
1. Man Made Miracles

"That being said, I believe that our best allocation of resources at this time, limited as they are, would be to start investigating the operations in the southern wing of the base as well as reestablishing a way to have renewable power but I can't start doing that if you keep sending my people to help Zalenka grow god damn flowers," Rodney swore from the other side of the desk, Daniel rubbing his face in dismay.

"We have plenty to get us through the winter, the commissary is well stocked, so we have food Daniel, we have supplies, now let's get something accomplished, unless you're more concerned about your stomach," the scientist continued, turning the next page in his folder dramatically, since when did he use a folder and not that stupid computer, as dramatic as the breath he was taking before continuing his rant.

Without a word Dr. Daniel Jackson stood, walking past Dr. Rodney McKay and right out of his office, not even bothering to close the door. Powering across the bridge, his name and sir being called out a few times as he passed, Daniel continued on to the transporter at the far end of the main control room, stopping only to push the button to allow him to enter. The door slid away, his tall form still ducking for fear of hitting his head on the smaller space the tubes here in Atlantis afforded, selecting the correct floor from the choices allotted in the array of glowing dots. Stepping out of the transport when he arrived at his floor, he silently made his way down the long hall.

Arriving in record time, he turned the corner, no tapping of his knuckles against the open door, walking right across the broad expanse, past tables, chairs, diagrams and view screens, taking a seat in the chair in the corner.

"Sha? Is everything alright?" Adrienne asked as he sat, having watching him trod across the room without so much as a word to she or Nicholas.

"No, it's not," he set right in, frowning at her, "I'm the commander of the only Ancient city station known in existence, the most amazing thing an archaeologist could ever hope to explore to understand who we are and where we came from but what am I doing?!"

Shaking her head, but not saying a word, Adrienne walked over to the coffee machine, grabbing his cup from her desk as she did.

"Rodney wants to take half of Zalenka's crew on his latest insane mission, a group of scientists who are trying to re-establish a way for us to feed ourselves without Cam spending the rest of his life flying back and forth here with supplies. He's in my office right now probably still trying to convince my chair that constructing a geothermal link to this planet's volcanic core like they had before despite the fact that we have the PPS here with us is more important than anyone eating..."

His wife didn't say a word, tapping the button on the machine to reheat the liquid, leaning back on the counter, her arms folded across her chest.

"John's maintenance report this morning says that we have three, not one like he said last week, but three jumpers in need of repair, one that might need an engine overhaul which I didn't even know was possible on those things. Ronon's last security check-in, because I can't call his two lines he gives me each week any kind of a report, claims that there are NO other life forms on this planet, humanoid at least, which I find VERY difficult to believe, and I'm honestly considering asking Vala to take over writing security reports. Vala, Ad are you hearing me? Vala. I actually weighing giving Vala REAL responsibility," he continued, Adrienne calmly pouring a cup as the light flicked to the ready position, adding one cream, two sugars, before turning to head for the spare desk in the corner.

"Oh and remember that adorable married couple you thought were so cute, so perfect for each other, the Corbins? They're in the physics department? They're getting divorced, so I need to rearrange quarters, which we barely have set up anyway, and we have no shrink here, no therapist, and Teyla, kind as she is, is trying to step in and help, but she can't handle her own duties and be a mother all while she's trying to be our, what's that lady on Star Trek you keep calling her?"

"Deanna Troi."

"Right, that one, well, Teyla's not the ship's counselor and these two are at one another's throats so bad that I'm not even sure if they can stay on the same level, let alone the same hall. There's a leak in the south wing, under the floor tiles, but the section of the city manual, oh wait, did you know that we have an electronic city manual? Rodney did, chose not to tell me that, and now he keeps referring to it as if I should have the god damn thing, read, memorized and be able to cite back passages specifically. Ja-wer, I'm gonna punch him in the face which makes no sense because of the two of us, YOU are the one prone to punching people..."

Smiling Adrienne shook her head, today being a touch worse than the episode a few days back, now that Daniel was threatening violence, violence that he wouldn't carry out. A small yellow packet in her hand, she walked over to him quietly, handing over both the cup and sponge cake.

"We're almost out of Twinkies," was all she said, crossing her arms again and waiting.

"Can you make cupcakes when we run out?" he asked quietly, his expression softening as he took a sip of his coffee slowly, letting the snack cake sit in his lap.

"Dad?" a voice from the corner shouted out, Daniel feeling instantly guilty to have overlooked that other important person in his life, who was sitting happily at the miniature desk, two spiral notebooks and one of his journals on Ancient littering the surface.

"I'm sorry Nicholas, I didn't say hello," he apologized quickly, the boy's small pursed mouth turning up to a smile at the acknowledgment.

"It's ok, you're stressed. Do you need some help? I can talk to Uncle Ronon and write his reports if you'd like," he offered, putting down the small pencil, a tiny hand reaching for his tablet computer.

For a moment Daniel paused, considering it, letting his nine month old genius child write reports for him, after all the child's grammar was impeccable, crazy Cajun mother or not. He didn't agree though, Adrienne reading his face and his mind, frowning at him and shaking her head.

_Wow Daniel, you've gotten desperate..._

"No son, it's all right. This is just a lot different than I'm used to and it's gonna take a little more than a month to get used to it," he answered instead, the Cajun glare disappearing at his words.

"Ka Naya ka nok," Nicholas added with a grin, Daniel getting the message loud and clear as his son repeated his offer to help, Adrienne turning her glare on him as well.

"Stop speaking Unas, both of you," she warned, Nicholas still smiling.

"Ser amil," the child covered quickly, Daniel shaking his head. It should bother him, the boy learning Unas to speak to him in secret, Elvish for his mother, but instead he found it rather endearing. For as large as the city was, between Daniel's job as commander, Adrienne's as the head of Archaeology/Anthropology and the fact that the city itself was so sparsely populated, there were few opportunities to spend one on one quality time with their son, but these secret languages almost made up for it.

And the Unas drove Adrienne insane, more so because she just couldn't wrap her head around it to save her life.

That alone was gold.

"Indy, you're the boss now, but being boss doesn't mean that you have to do all of this yourself. Why are you making John report to you on puddlejumpers? Why not only have Ronon check in when there is a problem? Get engineering on the leak, you're not a plumber. Give Rodney Zalenka's crew for a day and let them all quit when he goes bananas," she offered, Daniel shaking his head as he opened the package containing his momentary indulgence.

"I can't," he said before shoving the cake into his mouth.

"Yes, you can. You won't. You're a control freak sha, admit it," Adrienne joked. Frowning, causing him to choke slightly on the cake, Daniel swallowed, gulping down some coffee.

"I am not," he protested, knowing full well that she was right.

_Damn Adrienne, always damn right..._

"Yes, you are, but I'm not gonna argue with you while you're sulking," Adrienne said with a smile, peeking over her shoulder to the rather simplistic Greek design clock on the wall. That had taken a bit to get used to, the lack of cell phones at their beck and call, each and every person outfitted with an ear communicator and wrist watch, his own clunky digital device hanging heavily on his wrist. His wife, of course, had opted for the neon pink banded watch and a rather large clock in the Greek key design, Roman numerals and all.

"What are you looking at?' he asked, now worried that he had missed something, forgotten something but Adrienne was shaking her head.

"Not for you, your next meeting with the botany department isn't until four, your last of the day..."

"Wait, shit, that's right, why has this job made me so..."

"Stop Indy stop. You're getting used to it. It hasn't made you disorganized or anything else. Stop. I've got you covered; you won't miss a single meeting," she assured, walking her tablet computer over to him, his schedule for the week laid out on the screen carefully.

"Ad, you're not my assistant anymore, you're the head of the department, you can't be worrying about my schedule," he scolded as the tablet was removed from his hand, then the coffee mug, Adrienne taking a seat in his lap, facing him, flashing her left hand in his face.

"See that. That makes us a team and a team works together, regardless of what our titles are," she said with a smile, tossing her arms onto his shoulders, bringing her lips to his.

"On that note," the child stood from his desk, stumpy legs and a body that didn't match the brain walking right for the door, "I'm gonna see what Uncle Ronon is doing."

"Behave," Adrienne shouted her traditional good-bye, returning her gaze back to her husband's perfect blue eyes, "My appointment's at two."

Daniel paused for a moment, having forgotten what they were talking about before they had embarrassed their son with an outward display of affection when he remembered, the one thing on the calendar that he couldn't forget. He moved Adrienne from his line of sight, but not his lap, peering over at the clock.

"That's in thirty minutes," he clarified, Adrienne nodding her head.

"Yeah, I was gonna call up to your office but your little tantrum saved me the effort," she teased gently.

"Can I come? I understand if you don't want me there, but," Daniel started, his stammering cut off immediately with a kiss.

"I want you to come. And if it works, Vala and Ronon are gonna keep Nicholas for the night..." she whispered so softly, kissing down his neck, making him remember last night, when she came to his office as he worked late, telling him that they needed to break it in...

"We should head down early just in case he can see us," Daniel said quickly, pushing Adrienne upward, all of his thoughts from this morning disappearing as he focused on his wife and the news that they wanted to hear. That had been a bombshell dropped on him the day they arrived, that Adrienne wanted another child, that despite everything working against them she wanted to try to get pregnant again. They had visited Carson the very next day; the doctor suggesting that Adrienne go off of her medication immediately to see if that would heal the damage. Oma had suggested as much when she brought Adrienne back, no, when she helped him bring Adrienne back, from the dead.

Today they would find out if that hunch was right, if without the drugs that kept her from healing would her body continue the repair what it had naturally begun when her heart gave out.

A process that Daniel had selfishly stopped, just to feel her heartbeat again.

"Come on sha," she teased, sitting back down, resuming her soft kisses, "Carson said we needed to keep trying too, all systems go..."

"Lock the door," he relented, standing to strip away half of his uniform as she dashed to fulfill his request.

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"Carson, I'm sorry we're late," Adrienne apologized, blushing, the good doctor shrugging as he walked over to the counter, reaching out to guide her to the table.

"Addy, on time is something I will neva expect ya ta be," the Scot replied, Daniel slightly relieved that he hadn't caught on. It was such a stupid thing to worry about; so what if he could tell by their glow what had just happened? They were a happily married couple for over a year now, even Carson was there as they celebrated their first anniversary on the journey through space. That had been fun, Adrienne threatening for the first two weeks since lift-off that if he were to do something sappy, like write poetry or declare anything ship wide, that she would kill him.

Instead, he just threw a party, one to not only celebrate their first year as the Jacksons but that boosted morale as some personnel left the Milky Way behind for the first time.

"Up on the scanner," he patted the machine gently, Adrienne reaching to undo her uniform, quickly tossing gray pants and jacket aside.

"Addy, I can run the scan through clothes," Carson noted as the archaeologist crawled onto the table, orange tank top, sports bra and panties alone.

"Any excuse to get out of that uniform," Daniel spoke before he could have thought his words through better, blushing himself now.

_Damn Adrienne; damn her making me so flustered. _

"You'd think that sleeping with the big boss would get me some perks in this job, but it hasn't. Grey itchy wool like everyone else," she joked, red cheeks again in Daniel's face as Carson chuckled.

"Lay down," he ordered, his fingers across the screen bringing the scanner to life, "now, no medication correct, none," he started as the bar to the machine whirred to life over Adrienne's feet, slowly moving upward.

"Not a one and Daniel on half dose like you said. We tested last week with a steak knife and it's the same as before, I timed the healing at approximately eight seconds," Adrienne explained, Daniel nodding in agreement as Carson continued the slow scan. Daniel hadn't like testing that in their quarters either with the smuggled piece of cutlery, but he understood that Adrienne wanted privacy in this. He was sure that she hadn't told a soul that they were trying, not even Vala, who she seemed to tell everything.

Everything.

That he didn't want to think about right now.

"Good lass," Carson responded, not looking up, "it makes it far easier when a patient actually listens."

That, Daniel thought, is not problem for Adrienne; to her a doctor might as well be a deity.

"Anything yet?" she asked instead of replying to his remark, watching Carson frown, dancing his fingers around the scanner.

"Not yet Addy, can ya lie still please?" the doctor muttered, the Cajun complying under her husband's serious glare.

"Jennifer said that the next step will be to clock Adrienne's cycle to see when she's ovulating," Daniel spoke now, his mind steps ahead but Carson still wasn't speaking, leaning closer to the read-out screen. Not liking the look, Daniel let go of Adrienne's hand, walking around the foot of the scanner trying to read the results for himself.

"Daniel, Addy, I'm sorry," Carson said as soon as Daniel was at his side, certain that his commander could read the results of the scan, and see the depressing images on the screen.

"What do you mean I'm sorry?" Adrienne asked, sitting up, mouth open, looking to Daniel who was reading the same thing as the doctor, biting his lower lip.

"Ja-wer, it didn't work..." Daniel started slowly, watching her, reading her, waiting for her to fall apart.

"It didn't?" she asked instead, so very calmly, eerily calm. It was a calm Daniel knew, one that meant the break was gonna be that much worse.

"No Addy, I'm sorry. There has been no change in the scarring. You could conceive, but the fetus would miscarry very early in the pregnancy," Carson explained as he brought the portable screen to her side, Adrienne still completely collected.

"Carson, that can't be accurate. I haven't had a dose of my medication in over thirty days, Daniel hasn't either," the archaeologist flinched at that reveal, they had promised to keep that a secret since as the head of Atlantis he wasn't supposed to be compromising himself more than a half dose, "and we've had unprotected sex at least once a day if not more since we stopped the dosages. If anything, I should have not only healed but decreased in age by five years!"

Daniel flushed with embarrassment. She wasn't trying to be, well, Vala-like, airing their personal information for the entire medical bay to hear, which thankfully was empty. She didn't understand, and he didn't either, but that had been part of this mess all along. No one knew why they healed really, other than the Dopamine counts, no one knew why the alternate of himself he had met did not have the healing abilities, nor did his also descended wife.

"Addy, there was a chance that this wouldn't work. Whatever this is also left both of your tattoos, so it seems to be as confusing itself as it is to us..." Carson was kind, his natural beside manner soothing and for that Daniel was grateful as his wife seemed tranquil, continuing her very reasonable argument.

"Then we continue down the non-medication route. I'll start tracking my ovulation, since you say I can conceive and we will make sure to concentrate our efforts on those times and if at any time my uterus becomes hostile, the fetus can be removed and..."

"Adrienne, you're not listening. In the state your uterus is now the embryo would not even be able to attach itself to the uterine wall. You would lose every child that you and Daniel would conceive, almost immediately..."

Frozen, Daniel stood between the love of his life and the doctor unsure as to what he should do. Granted, were he married to anyone else but Adrienne Rowan Jackson, he would be holding her and comforting her while she cried, but not his Ad. If anything, she was the strongest person he had ever met, she was his rock, and right now he was torn between wanting to be hers and knowing when she needed space.

Adrienne, however, didn't remain still, reaching to her left to unlock the latch holding the main portion of the scanner in place, slipping her legs off of the side and reaching her bare feet to the cold stone floor.

"Thank you Carson. I'll stop by tomorrow so we can restart my medication," she said without expression, walking over to Daniel, leaving her clothes, her shoes, approaching him in a tank top and underwear alone.

"I'm gonna swing by the room and get my gym bag, hit the workout room. Can you pick up Nicky after your four o'clock?" she asked, Daniel's eyes cutting over to Carson as if the doctor could explain what was going on, but he was shaking his head, agreeing with what Daniel's gut was telling him to do, to let her go.

"Sure Ad. I'll call down to Ronon and see if he can hang out with Nicky until I'm done," Daniel replied, Adrienne standing on her toes to peck his lips lightly.

"Thanks sha. Love you," she said again without expression the words she no longer left his presence without saying.

"Love you," he answered as she whisked herself away in her underwear headed for the gym.

"Daniel," he heard Carson speaking behind him, "she's gonna need to deal with this. I know she wanted, that you both wanted this so badly..."

They had. Nicholas had been the second surprise of his life, second only to Adrienne herself, but to have another child, one that was planned, one that didn't need to be shielded from the dangers of an angry former foe would have been even more perfect.

"We did, but she'll be alright. She just needs to blow off some steam," he responded, Carson nodding silently.

Nothing else to say to the doctor, Daniel tapped his communicator at his ear, calling down to his chief security office to find his son.

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"Get up, it's time to get my ass in trouble with the commander," John said from the other side of the bars, but all he got was a back in return, the prisoner refusing to look at him.

"I have lived in this room for years, like an animal, and now you come asking for my aide as if we are friends," he answered, still not moving, John reaching his hand to rub his temples. Todd had a point, he did, but it wasn't John Sheppard's place to explain Earth politics and military procedure to his old friend, for lack of a better word.

"You've lived in the room, for years, with everything you could have wanted and more. If anything it's more like a very exclusive college dorm than a prison cell," the colonel countered as if the Wraith would have any idea what a college dorm was, but then again he might. John made sure that Todd had TV, access to the experimental food energy source from Rodney, anything he needed though he asked for nothing. He hadn't even asked for his freedom because really, where would be go? There was the retrovirus, it would have made him human, let him start a life on Earth, albeit monitored, but it would have been a life.

A life he refused.

So, Todd had remained confined to Atlantis, the only people knowing of his existence and that he survived the battle with the super hive were John Sheppard, Woolsey and General Samantha O'Neill, who felt it best to tell Daniel after they had established themselves back on Atlantica given his feelings about prisoners in general. Truth was, no one trusted Todd, except for John, who for some strange reason couldn't figure out why the man/thing had just remained quietly in his cell for all of those years.

"Fine Todd, you know what? I don't care. Sit here and rot. I'll just go up to Daniel's office myself, inform him that you're down here and let him figure out what to do with you," John threatened, beginning to leave when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

So predictable, he thought, halting his exit.

"Am I free?"

John wished he had an answer for that because ultimately, as Sam had said, it was Daniel's decision.

"Probably," John didn't lie, already anticipating this conversation with his new boss, a man who he still could not believe killed Anubis without so much as a blink. So, judging by that action alone, as long as Todd didn't lay a finger on Addy or Nicholas then everything should be fine.

John watched as the tall being sat there, weighing his options before standing.

"Your sport football is improperly named since one rarely uses the foot," Todd said as he pointed back to the TV, an old Cowboys game playing on the screen, pushing past the Colonel before he could answer.

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"Ronon, is Nicholas with you?" Daniel asked as he powered through the halls of the city, hoping his wife had ventured to the training room like she had said. He'd gone to their quarters when he first tried Dex, thinking that she might just go there and break down and cry, but she was gone, her gym bag was gone and there was no note.

"Yeah, little guy's helping me walk the perimeter," the Sateadan answered, Daniel breathing out a small sigh of relief, both that he had finally been answered and finding Nicholas.

At least he knew where one member of his family was, now to find the other.

"Listen, I hate to ask you guys this but-" Daniel started, stepping into a side alcove for privacy when Ronon interrupted him.

"Doc said it's a no go?"

Daniel frowned. Of course Ronon would know, because if Ronon knew that meant Vala knew which meant that Adrienne had told her everything. He appreciated the bond between the two women, as odd as it had been for him at first, but there were times when he wondered if there would ever be a part of his life that Vala Mal Doran would not have intimate details of.

Damn space pirate.

"Daniel?"

"Yeah," he finally answered, resigning himself to this reality, hoping Adrienne didn't give Vala details like she had given the doctor, "she can't."

"Is she ok?" he now asked, a question even Daniel himself couldn't answer.

"I have no idea. She left the infirmary and said she was going to work out and I can't get a hold of her," might as well be honest with Ronon myself, Daniel thought.

"I'll send Vala down there, and I've got your boy," was his reply before the communication was terminated. With that at least taken care of, Daniel glanced at his watch again noting he only had fifteen minutes until his meeting with the Botany department, no time at all to go to the gym himself.

Distracted, worried, and overall annoyed, Daniel jogged to the transporter, headed back to his office.

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Adrienne had wanted to run, but that meant she had to run the path she created around the base and Daniel might find her.

Daniel was the last person she wanted to talk to.

He hadn't done anything wrong, it was quite the opposite. It had been his idea to stop his own medication, putting himself at risk for whatever might happen; it had been Daniel who kept a calendar and had gotten Vala and Ronon to keep Nicky so they could lock themselves in their room during her ovulation. Daniel had tested himself and her daily to see if the healing was taking. She knew he blamed himself for not letting her heal completely before waking her again, but it wasn't his fault any more than it was hers. They'd played the blame game right after their initial appointment, three days after landing at Atlantica, both of them a sad blubbering mess of apologies until she had realized it wasn't either of their faults.

He would blame himself nonetheless, she knew he would and he would start holding her, and try to make sure she was alright and have another plan, have made another appointment, suggest calling the Furlings so he could do this himself, he would do anything a wonderful perfect husband would do to make her happy.

She just didn't want to hear his voice right now. Right now, she just wanted to sweat.

When she slipped through the training room doors she expected to be alone since it was mid-afternoon, the time of the day the city seems to dwindle to quiet before dinner and the other activities of the evening, but she wasn't. In the center of the field stood Teyla, a stick in each hand, running through a slow, methodical martial arts form. Adrienne stood there for a moment, watching, absorbing when the Athosian stopped, glancing back over at her.

"Good afternoon Adrienne," she greeted, her legs still deep in a stance. Shaking her head, the archaeologist tossed her bag aside, taking a few steps forward.

"Hey," was all she could muster, the first word she had spoken since informing her husband that she was going to the gym.

"Is something the matter?" Teyla now asked, Adrienne swearing inside. The woman sensed too much for her own damn good and the last thing that Adrienne Jackson wanted to do was talk about anything relating to the past few hours.

"Just a bit stressed," she chose instead, "needed to get the blooding flowing."

Teyla smiled. If anything Adrienne knew that Teyla, among many members of the Atlantis crew, understood better than anyone the need to exercise to deal with stress. It had been what made her and Cam fast friends, that primal drive to sweat and get the heart rate up.

Geez, no wonder Daniel got so jealous.

"I understand, that is why I have come down as well," she answered as she walked over to the side of the main floor, dropping her batons into the large equipment cylinder. Adrienne felt bad in that very moment, having forgotten what Teyla was going through these past two months since departure. They'd all hoped that when they arrived that the Athosians would be waiting to greet them on the mainland, where Teyla herself remembered Kanaan touching his forehead lightly to hers as she went to fight with the city and he with their people.

Adrienne had almost convinced herself of that very fact, insisting their second day here to accompany Ronon, Teyla and John to the former village site to bear witness to the happy reunion.

Kanaan, however, was not there, nor were any signs of any inhabitants in years.

Teyla was heartbroken.

She didn't cry, didn't express any outward emotion, but Adrienne had promptly volunteered to take Torren to 'keep Nicky busy' and give Teyla some time alone. Too absorbed in her own pain and planning, Adrienne hadn't bothered to check and see how Teyla was doing and now, standing here worried about her own idiotic problems when she had a husband and child of her own by her side, Adrienne was at a loss for words.

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Daniel held up a finger, not rudely, but just to halt Radek Zalenka for one moment while he looked at the proposed garden. It was significantly bigger than the last one and would supply nearly everything plant based they would need, provided his staff stayed at the one hundred and fifty people that it was now. Plans of course were to expand to a full city, but with certain sections not yet explored even though they were now at full power, one hundred and fifty was where that number was gonna stay.

Hopefully...

"This is good, so then what do you need?" he asked, setting the tablet down as Zalenka smiled, reaching over to cue up the list on the screen.

"A few items, but they can wait. To get started we need twenty five more red fluorescents to enhance the growth. That seems to be the one color we lack, and the Asgard devices just can't duplicate them like I'd like," the scientist replied, Daniel nodding as he looked back at the list. It was lengthy and he was sure he could get everything they needed on the next supply run but the lights were needed as soon as possible to get anything started. He also needed to see if Rodney, did he ever wish that Sam was here, could look at that Asgard replication device and see why it was so damn glitchy...

"Radek, have you used the communication stones?" Daniel now asked, deciding to test out his theory from the other day. Given that the Destiny had been asked to change course, from the Milky Way to the Pegasus, Sam had insisted that Daniel take one stone with him. Granted, the powers that be had argued that flying to the Pegasus really was only three weeks less of a journey but Daniel knew the real reason and he appreciated it. Sam wanted to give him and his team, namely Adrienne for now, but others as they were trained, a chance at the ship first before the United States government and the IOA could intervene.

In the meantime, Daniel could use the stones to get quick messages to Earth, via an eager Eli Wallace as well as spy on Nicholas Rush.

It was a win win.

"No, but I know how they work," he answered with hesitation in his voice. It was a little freaky, Daniel had to admit, but the stones were harmless and he'd rather have Radek do it himself than send anyone else. Pursing his lips, Daniel turned to his computer screen, keying in his access code, Alexander Skarsgard's birthday.

Yes, that was to mess with Adrienne.

"I want you to head down to the communications room, I've sent my authorization. Go to the Destiny and explain everything to Eli, let him switch to Earth. Just request the lights for now, I don't want for any of the new IOA guys to start giving Sam a hard time and while you wait go ahead and take a look around, feel things out, and check on Chloe. I know Carson wanted to be kept abreast of that," Daniel explained, smiling, hearing his wife's voice in his head telling him that was exactly how he needed to do things, one small step at a time and to delegate.

"Really?" Radek asked as if he didn't believe him, Daniel nodding in assurance.

"Yea, but you might want to hurry in case Cam is being limited to his cargo this round."

Relieved, poor Zalenka must know that whatever bullshit Rodney was filling him with was just that, bullshit, the scientist started to head out of the door when a thought flashed through Daniel's head.

"Hey, Radek?"

The man paused, peering back as Daniel smiled, feeling satisfied and wanting to toss in just one more thing...

"Have Cam bring Adrienne some running shoes. Size ten, Adidas," he requested, Zalenka chuckling.

"Machine can't replicate those either?"

Daniel shook his head.

"Not to her liking anyway," he replied, Radek laughing and making a note on his screen, turning once more to leave.

"At least one thing has gone right today," Daniel said, only to himself or so he thought, reaching across his desk to grab a pen when there was a figure at the doorway, crossing the threshold, startling him for a moment.

"John," he greeted, sitting back in his chair, trying to relax.

_Please don't tell me another jumper is busted, please..._

"Hey, Daniel, ya got a sec?"

Daniel didn't like that tone. It was another jumper, they'd left three on Earth as it was, and that meant with four out of commission, they'd have, wait, how many would that be, where were his notes...

"This kinda can't wait," John urged, cautiously, Daniel shaking his head back to focus.

_Deep breaths..._

"Yea, what's up? Another jumper?"

Colonel John Sheppard, however, shook his head.

"There's someone I want you to meet," he said instead, reaching his hand behind to motion for someone to enter.

Now, Daniel wasn't exactly sure as to who would walk in.

Could John have found the Athosians?

Did the Vanirs show up to torment Daniel a second time?

Maybe Rodney had, God forbid, managed to clone himself to get more done...

What Daniel hadn't expected was a Wraith to walk in the room, unbound, free, heading straight for his desk.

"What in the hell!?" Daniel shouted as he stood quickly, backing up, looking for the zat that he knew that he had stored near his desk.

"Daniel, I need to explain, this is Todd," John said, the Wraith, Todd, coming to a stop in front of the desk, his hands clasped in front of him.

"Todd?" his commander asked in return, a vague memory of the name coming out in meetings about the base, how there was a Wraith that had switched sides...

"Yes, Todd. He's part of the reason we made it to Earth, that the super hive was defeated," John was explaining but Daniel didn't care.

"You brought THAT here with Adrienne and Nicholas!? And it's loose?! Take it to the brig, I'll deal with it later," was all he could spit out, wanting it gone, not wanting to hear the explanation that was tumbling out of John's mouth.

"But Daniel, listen, I can't take him back there, he's been locked up for years..."

Recalling this later, Daniel wasn't exactly sure what he said, how loud it was, how profane it was, or if in fact it was Cajun, but he did remember John grabbing the tall bluish thing, dragging it out into the passageway.

He needed moonshine, and a Twinkie.

Shame he was out of both.

"I thought you said he was more compassionate than the other man?" Todd inquired as John led him down the hall, back to his cell, having decided not to piss of Daniel any further.

What had come out of that man's mouth was not English.

"He is, well, he... It's complicated since he got married and had a kid," John tried to explain, knowing that was exactly what Daniel was going on about, well, thought that was what Daniel was going on about.

"Why? Is she frail? Infirmed?" the Wraith now asked, curious, John shaking his head back and forth in response.

"Actually, no, she could probably kick your ass," the colonel replied, making his comrade even more curious.

"So, she is a great warrior?"

John shrugged.

"Yeah, but I think it's more of she's Cajun..." he trailed, as he stepped back into the transporter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

By the time Teyla Emgammon had punched Dr. Adrienne Jackson in the face for the second time, she knew the archaeologist wasn't even trying to defend herself. It wasn't that Adrienne was a superior fighter, the Athosian found herself often evenly matched with the human woman since Teal'c had begun to train her, but this was abnormal. Her fist made contact with the high pale cheekbone, sending Adrienne momentarily to the floor before the Cajun leapt up, in a fighting stance again.

"Adrienne, is something the matter?" she ventured but her opponent swung at her, missing, sending her barreling into the floor. This was not like Adrienne either, it was sloppy and inconsistent with their past sessions. Teyla was turning, to stop the fight when a foot slammed into her side, knocking her to the floor. She should have restrained herself, but it was a low blow, literally, and she jetted up to her feet, shoving Adrienne back and kicking her square in the solar plexus. She should have gone down, but she just held her middle for a moment and smiled, charging Teyla like a wild animal, forcing her to kick the Cajun a second time.

That time, Adrienne fell to her knees.

"Adrienne, what is going on?" she asked again, dark mysterious eyes shooting up as again her foe was on her feet, punching haphazardly, Teyla having to kick out yet again when she noticed that Adrienne wasn't even protecting her middle. Pulling her foot back as fast as she could, Teyla reach out instead to catch her friend who was falling, collapsing, sobbing.

"Just break it. I want it out, I want it gone. I can't..." she was rambling, Teyla completely confused as Adrienne's knees slammed onto the hard floor, reaching to punch herself in her lower abdomen.

"It's not fair! I never asked for this, it's just not fair!" the shrieking continued, Teyla unsure as to what to do, what Adrienne was talking about when she felt a hand on her shoulder, glancing behind her. Not a word was spoken, Vala Mal Doran was there, shaking her head slowly, biting her lip.

"I jus want anotha baby. Why can't I 'ave anotha baby? I didn't ask ta be raped..." Adrienne was on the floor now, away from Teyla who was starting to put the pieces together. She didn't know what to say truthfully, Vala kneeling beside them, reaching out her hand only to have it smacked away.

"I neva dought I wanted any of dis till Daniel ahn naw I canna even give 'em anotha chile..." full blown Cajun speak now, Teyla trying to decipher as Vala leaned in past her, extending her arm a second time.

"Addy, listen, Daniel doesn't care about that. You're his entire world, you know that," she was urging but Adrienne just cried harder. Sighing, Vala looked back at Teyla, indicating that she leave, that she would handle this in Daniel's absence. Standing slowly, heartbroken for the woman she was leaving on the floor, Teyla left her own equipment behind as she headed for her quarters.

"What's that?"

"Pegasus Calibrated DHD."

"And that?"

"Spare engine pod."

"And that?"

"I thought you read the manual?" Ronon asked, peeking around the jumper John Sheppard had asked him to repair to the Jackson genius child, sitting across from him on the cool tile floor.

"I did, but I didn't commit it to memory. And mom took it away. She doesn't want me flying one," Nicholas answered, fiddling with the notebook in his hand.

"How could you fly one? You didn't get an injection," the Sateadean noted, deciding not to mention that he could never reach any of the controls without help, but the boy was ready to answer, the smile emanating from the child unmistakable.

"Dad's DNA goodies. Don't need it. Neither does mom," he answered, Ronon having forgotten the genetic craziness that was the Jackson family.

"So you can fly one?" the man now asked, fearing the answer from the small boy, that maybe there was something he didn't know.

"In theory."

There was a confidence in his voice, something that told Ronon that he had probably thought through his size disparity and was simply seeking more mechanical knowledge.

The little shit was trying to con him.

"Why don't you go get some lunch?" Ronon now suggested, the thought of Adrienne discovering that he was teaching Nicholas about jumpers making him just a little nervous.

That is where he gets it from, he thought, his mother.

"I'm not hungry," he replied, much to Ronon's sheer frustration. He couldn't very well send the child to his room, Vala had called from the Jackson quarters to say that she had finally calmed Addy down, but seeing the child she did have was the last thing his friend needed to endure. Besides that, he had promised Daniel that he would look after the little guy until his father could relieve him. He was a good child, but the problem wasn't his behavior; it was that he was too smart for his own good.

"Ok, ok. No more jumper lessons," Nicholas relented, Ronon almost sighing out at dodging the bullet, "can I ask you about the 'Q' trials?"

Or not.

And more than that, how did the little shit know that he was the subject in the 'Q' trails?

Or for that matter, what the 'Q' trails were?

"I looked it up on Mom's computer," the boy answered for him.

"You can read minds now?" this wasn't good and it wasn't good considering some of the other thoughts he had run through his head in the child's presence.

"No, but you looked shocked so I put two and two together."

He was shaking his head again, honestly trying to figure out how Daniel and Adrienne lived with this.

"What are you doing over there?" he tried to redirect, the boy seeing through his ploy but smiling nonetheless.

"I'm working on my Ancient," Nicholas answered, flashing the pages in Ronon's direction, scrawled and scratched with utter nonsense. Granted, some of that nonsense was on the jumpers too, but Ronon knew how everything worked without having to read a dead language.

"Trying to show up your mom and dad?" he joked as the boy frowned, much like his father.

"No, trying to help. They're both really stressed out and mom can't concrete as well with trying to get pregnant again," the words rolling out of his mouth only seconds before Ronon dropped a very delicate Ancient tool onto the floor.

"Uncle Ronon, you're so funny. It's ok, I know how that works and I think a brother or sister would be cool," Nicholas responded, standing awkwardly.

"Where are you headed?"

"I need, a, uh, change," the boy admitted, his cheeks flushed as he tossed the notebook aside, toddling out of the bay.

"Stay close Nicky!" Ronon shouted behind, trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Teyla knew what had happened to Adrienne and of course the city was small, in population at least, and she had heard that they were trying. She hadn't really thought much about it other than to be happy for them; for the time she had known Daniel and now Adrienne, they deserved every good thing that came their way. The assumption had been made, as it had by she was certain most of her colleagues, that there would be an announcement, maybe even over the loudspeaker as Daniel liked to embarrass his wife, that she was expecting their second child.

The thought had never crossed her mind that it wouldn't work.

She wondered what had gone wrong exactly, her knowledge of medicine being rather extensive for a lack of a formal education and there was only one place she could get answers.

Radioing to see if Torren was still playing in the botany lab children's garden, Teyla changed course, heading for the transporters.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Take another shot."

"I can't Vala, I'm trying to get pregnant," Adrienne whined, rolling around on the bed, the alcohol starting to dim her senses.

"No, we determined that's not happening about three shots ago. Glasses is firing blanks," Vala teased, pulling Adrienne upright who was fighting her, weakly.

"He is not. Shut up. Leave Daniel alone," she answered, but it was more like one long slurred word rather than anything that made actual sense.

"It's his fault, I bet, it's always his fault," Vala countered, pouring another drink and setting it aside, reaching again for her friend's wrists.

"I dun told ya mon ami, it nah 'im, but we can blame it on 'im. I can make 'im feel al guilty ahn do nice dings fa me..."

"None of that made any damn sense Addy, none of it," Vala replied, passing the drink as Adrienne sat.

"Ready?"

"Why in da 'ell nah?"

"Good, now, one, two, three, drink!"

Vala slammed hers a lot faster, Adrienne barely making her mouth. If anything, this pregnancy planning had made her friend a light weight, off her meds or not.

"Nah, leave Indy alone, 'ee tries so 'ard..."

That Vala somewhat understood, not only her words but what Adrienne was trying to say. It was very endearing; it was what made Vala realize that they were meant to be together.

Daniel bent over backwards for Adrienne like he had never done for anyone else, on a personal level at least.

She did the same for him, pampered him a bit too much in Vala's opinion...

"Did ah eva tell ya, back when we first gah tagetha dat 'ee I caught 'im looking up 'ow ta," Adrienne was giggling, falling back on the bed.

"Looked up what?"

The way the Cajun woman was rolling around on the bed in hysterics Vala could only imagine what was gonna come out of her mouth. Adrienne took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself, wiping tears from her eyes.

"We was plannin ah romantic evening, at 'is apartment, befah ya'll knew we was tagetha. I was supposed ta come afta my meetins' but my las meetin' gawt cancelled," she explained, Vala straining to understand, "so I be early, real early, ahn when I got dere 'ee was in da showa."

Oh shit, Vala thought, please no sex details about Daniel, please...

"So, I go inta his room, ta change clothes, put on some yoga pahnts ahn der be 'is laptop ahn he been doing research, jus nah da kinda research ya'd expect..." she was laughing now, hysterically, reaching for her stomach.

" 'Ee was lookin' up ow ta please me, wit his mouf..." and she was completely lost in giggles.

Vala, on the other hand, was completely disgusted. There was no way that he didn't know how to do that, no way in hell, but then again this was Daniel. She frowned as Adrienne was trying to compose herself again, something else to say.

"Indy be comin' out da bafroom, in 'is towel, gah jus 'is towel, ahn 'ee catched me lookin' ahn starts stammerin' and gettin' all nervous like he do, 'ee was so embarrassed..."

Dare I ask, Vala thought, or is she just gonna tell me?

_Oh, she's drunk, what the hell..._

"So what did you do?"

"I did wha any good gainne wud do. I taught 'im," and Adrienne was gone, there was nothing else that she was going to be able to say clearly, thankfully, since Vala didn't want to hear anymore. Before, yes, of course she would have wanted details, but now that she and Addy were so close, it was just not something she wanted to discuss.

"Ahn, ya wanna know wha 'ee did?"

_Oh dear god, what have I started?_

"Sure Addy," Vala replied, sitting up to pour herself another drink, hoping Ronon had the boy taken care of, "cuz you're gonna tell me anyway..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Normally, Daniel Jackson wasn't a quitter, but he'd had it today. His morning had begun with the discovery that the commissary was out of waffles, much like his desk was now out of Twinkies. Nicholas had decided to start potty training himself, which had been a giant disaster from the moment the small child rejected the plastic training toilet until Daniel had left for his office listening to the boy and his wife argue. He'd been barraged with reports, had to endure his daily dose of Rodney BS and then the appointment. The Wraith that according to John has been living on the base for years was just icing on the cake, and he was torn between securing a communication stone to go scream at the SGC himself and check on Adrienne.

"Daniel?' it was a female voice at the doorway, Teyla, and the commander glanced up to see that she was alone and sweaty. She must have been working out, which is where Adrienne had gone, making him focus instantly on his wife's well-being.

"Teyla, hi, what can I help you with?" he asked first, not wanting to jump right into worry; Adrienne wouldn't appreciate that in the last. Eerily quiet, Teyla turned to close the door behind her, securing the lock before approaching his desk.

"I was wondering if we may speak in confidence."

And the day just got worse.

He had no news about Kanaan, he had no news of anything other than a Wraith was living among them, so he wasn't sure what she needed. He hadn't given her any special duties and he had hoped she wasn't offended by that, but she seemed pleased with being allowed to keep her position on the base's primary team while still being able to raise her son in the fashion she felt was acceptable.

"Of course, have a seat," that was something that he hadn't gotten used to saying yet, nor was he totally used to sitting on the other side of the desk, especially when someone came to him like this. He remained in his seat however, Teyla taking position in the chair across from him gently.

"I have been down in the gym with Addy," she began, Daniel instantly relieved, "and we were training."

That was exactly where he knew she would be, and he was pleased that she hadn't taken to their quarters sobbing, suffering without him.

"Is she showering?" Daniel asked as it hit him that Teyla was alone, not accompanied by a happier, well-exercised Adrienne.

"Vala is with her. Daniel, she..." the Athosian trailed, Daniel leaning forward on his desk.

"She what?"

"Daniel she had a bit of an emotional breakdown I believe you call it. She was trying to get me to harm her, harm her womb, and when I stopped the fight she fell apart."

There was nothing else that Daniel needed to hear, as he dashed from his desk, leaving everything behind, Adrienne his only thought when he felt a hand on his wrist, holding him back.

"Leave her," Teyla instructed, "it is best that she not see you right now."

Daniel was confused. He was Adrienne's rock as much as she was his; why wouldn't she want to see him?

"She feels as if she has failed you and your marriage. It is best that you give her space," she advised, pulling him back to the white sofas lining the room, "that however, is not why I am here."

Confused, no, Daniel wasn't confused now...

He was livid.

"Teyla with all due respect my wife needs me and I could care less about what's happening anywhere else in this city!" He hadn't meant to shout but the words just tumbled from him, Teyla standing and shaking her head.

"Kanaan may be lost, I understand that and understood it when we embarked on this journey," she just kept talking as if he wasn't angry, as if his face wasn't red with rage, "However, rather than just wait and continue to feel helpless, I would like to help you and Adrienne."

"With what?" his words asked, but let me leave is what they were saying, Teyla taking a stance that she only took when she was serious.

"I have spoken to Carson, before I came, and he informed me that Adrienne can conceive a child but cannot carry it to term," she admitted to snooping, guilting Carson into breaking doctor-patient confidentiality, "I can."

Daniel froze for a moment, wondering if he was hearing things or just imagining what she was saying, jumping to conclusions.

"I would like to volunteer to serve as your surrogate as Carson called it. I would like to help you and Adrienne have another baby."

He wasn't jumping to conclusions; she was saying exactly what he thought she was saying.

In that very moment the day turned.

Unsure as to what to say to Teyla just yet, Daniel simply grabbed her hand, dragging her along as he raced back to his quarters.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"So I am to remain here?" Todd asked as he passed back through the bars, John feeling awful. He hadn't visited him much over the years, but he had visited, trying his best to make his strange ally and cautious friend as comfortable as possible.

"For now," John started, directing the guards that had followed them to leave, "the shock is gonna need to wear off but he'll come around. Any other commander I'd be worried, but not Daniel."

"If you say so," Todd replied as he took a seat, grabbing a book from the side.

"You read?" John asked, noting the book's title, _A Brave New World_. Fitting, John thought, his mind still not completely accepting of this new reality. He'd gotten used to fighting his way through life here, and then had gotten used to working on Earth, but getting the base set up again and starting up normal operations, especially with things at full power, was definitely a brave new world.

"Your language is simplistic; it was easy enough to learn."

_On that note..._

"Sheppard?" Todd inquired as John made it to the door, peering back quickly over his shoulder.

"Though they provide no nourishment I would like more of those Reese's candies, the brown and orange ones," he requested, John stifling a laugh.

"I will see what I can do," he replied, wondering if beside the candy treat were there any more power cells to feed their friend.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Uncle Ronon?"

The boy had returned a few moments ago, Ronon refraining from asking what exactly he had done, but it hadn't been long and he was right back on the floor, sitting as promised.

"Yeah," he answered, still loosening the cargo hold latch, hoping that would give him better access to the array of tubes and lines running along the bottom of the ship.

"Do you think it'll be like me?" the small child asked, Ronon holding back the swear as the bottom slab of metal slammed onto his fingers.

"What'll be like you?"

"The new baby," he asked, for the first time since Ronon had started really interacting with the child, sounding like, well, a child.

"It'll look like you; it's still gonna be a Jackson," the Sateadan stopped what he was doing to sit up and face the dark brown eyes gazing back at him.

"No, I mean, think like me?"

Oh, Ronon thought, that. It hadn't really occurred to him before, but it was probably a pretty lonely existence, an adult mind trapped into a child's body with a child's motor skills.

"Maybe," he answered the most honest answer he could come up with, the boy considering his words, "Do you want it to?" he added carefully.

"I'm not sure."

Honest enough.

"Well, they have to get pregnant first," Ronon now said, the boy nodding thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I guess so," he sighed, tapping the small pen to the paper.

"Get up," Ronon ordered, standing, walking over to his side. Confused, Nicholas peered up at the much taller human, his head cocking to the side.

"Get up. Don't you wanna go for a jumper ride? We can get one in before your dad comes to get you."

Nicholas Jackson didn't need to be told twice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Maybe Daniel should have expected the sight he walked in on, but nonetheless he felt a little embarrassed to find Adrienne passed out in their bed across Vala's lap, the latter gently stroking the hair of the former.

"She didn't have that much," Vala spoke up immediately, "she was mostly just upset but I got her calmed down."

Frowning, Daniel walked over to his nightstand where a bottle of tequila sat, two shot glasses nearby.

"Don't get sassy with me," Vala added as she gently moved Adrienne to her place on the bed, "she told me lots of goodies on you sir that I'm more than happy to use if needed."

Damn Adrienne and her damn big mouth.

"Thank you Vala," he chose instead, walking to the bed, momentarily leaving Teyla behind as he crawled in beside her.

"Would it be best if I leave as well?" the Athosian inquired as Vala collected a few things, cleaning up with the clear intent of leaving.

"No, if it isn't too much trouble I'd like for you to be here, would you wait in the living area?" Daniel requested before he could stop himself, feeling bad instantly at his request. If this woman was willing to allow them to use her body, for forty four weeks being that she was Athosian, he shouldn't be asking any more of her, but she only nodded, trailing behind his pseudo-sister-in-law and into the main room.

Alone at last, for the first time since Carson had told them the finality of their plight, Daniel redirected his attention to Adrienne, who was snoring lightly.

"Ja-wer?" he shook her gently, hoping this was a light sleep and that this wouldn't be like waking her up normally. She stirred slightly, rubbing her face and muttering.

"I donna wan anymah Vala. Jus let me lay 'ere till Indy gets back," she requested, Daniel unable to help but laugh.

"Indy is back, right here, to clean up your mess," he whispered in her ear, Adrienne's eyes prying themselves open.

"Oh sha, how long 'ave I been asleep?" she asked a question to which he did not have the answer, instead reaching for a bottle of water left on her nightstand.

"Long enough, drink this."

She took the water, sipping slowly, sitting up only enough to cuddle into his arms, burying her face into his chest as soon as the bottle was empty.

"I overreacted," she admitted quietly, Daniel pushing her forward to unzip the wool coat and toss it aside, taking her into his embrace again.

"No, you didn't. You reacted for both of us. I just didn't have the chance," he whispered, kissing her head, holding her as tightly as he could.

"I need to tell Teyla I'm sorry, for scaring her," Adrienne was pulling away, Daniel standing to take her hand and pull her to her feet.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, weird side effect of no meds, super quick to get light headed and super quick to clear it. Might want to tell Carson that one," and his wife was back, in learning and research mode, eager to analyze her own blood's ability to metabolize tequila.

"Teyla's in the living room," he said as she staggered forward, intent on her goal making her pause in her tracks.

"Oh no, did I do something that I don't remember? Did I hurt her? I wasn't trying to hurt her, only myself," and now we had Adrienne part two, back to worrying about others.

"No, she told me Ad, and that's not why she's here. She wants to talk to you, to both of us about something very important," he didn't want to say it here; he wanted Teyla to tell her in case the reaction wasn't the joy he had felt when he heard the words himself.

"About what? Is everything ok? Daniel is she ok? Torren?" she was rambling now Daniel stepping forward and reaching out, clasping her fingers.

"She's fine, can you just go out there," he tried the best he could to ease her fears but she could read him, she had always been able to read him and she knew that something was dead wrong in his expression.

"No Daniel," no Indy, no sha, nothing, just pure seriousness in her voice, "you tell me right now what trouble I've caused."

She had a point, after all, this was all her fault in theory...

He was smiling, he'd missed it but he was smiling and now his wife stood before him utterly confused.

"Daniel?"

"Ad, Teyla's out there not because of anything that anyone did wrong. She wants to help us," he started, unable to contain himself, "Adrienne, Teyla is volunteering to have our baby."

And with that, Dr. Adrienne Jackson almost fell to the floor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Radek Zalenka sat at the small cafeteria like table, stone in one hand and a cool drink in another. He had jumped into Scott's body, thankfully, since Daniel had warned him before he made the link that he could get Rush.

Daniel Jackson wanted Nicholas Rush as far away from Atlantis as possible for now.

He'd met the man, little arrogant, no more so than Rodney, but Daniel seemed to think that there was something more sinister about the man that no one else could see.

"RadekZalenka," Eli Wallace's body jolted to life, the stone doing its task, sending the young genius' mind to D.C. replacing it with...

"Teal'c?"

"No," the man smiled, "my father is going to be staying on Chulac to aide in the assimilation of the rebels into the Jaffa Free Nation."

Of course, Radek thought, it was wise to send Teal'c to deal with such matters, pleased to see that Ry'ac had recovered enough from his shattered arm to get back to work.

"How fares Atlantis?" the young Jaffa asked, his robotic Jaffa speak through Eli's mouth confusing his memory banks, hurting his head a bit.

"Well. Daniel is a very competent commander," he replied, believing it wholeheartedly. After all, he was keeping Rodney in check, with only minimal blowback and that in and itself was good enough in his book.

The men sat in silence.

"Do not repeat this, but this ship is dismal, as is the SGC. I am most fortunate that Washington DC has so many gardens as I never realized how much I have missed nature until it was no longer a part of my daily existence," Ry'ac said, Zalenka looking around the ship in agreement. It WAS dingy here and to be honest it was a big reason he had asked to work with botany department getting things started. For a big and bad Jaffa, the scientist found it almost endearing how much Ry'ac seemed to miss vegetation.

And he did too, in fact, there were nights since that arrived on Atlantica that he wanted more than anything to just have a cot sent down to the garden. It just felt more like home for some reason, Radek having gotten accustomed to nearly daily walks along the Washington Mall in DC or desert jogs near Area 51.

Which gave him an idea.

"Ry'ac, if you'll excuse me," Radek said as he stood, remembering the other things Daniel asked that he work on, planning his next proposal to his boss on the way to the infirmary.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Is it bad to be excited?" Adrienne asked as Daniel crawled into bed, his turn to read Nicholas a story before bed. The child could read himself, Daniel having been the one that taught him, but he still seemed to like the ritual.

"No, why would it be?" he replied as he reached over, shutting off the lights.

She paused, Daniel peering over at her in the dark.

"Because I get another baby and I don't even have to be pregnant."

"Ok, yea Ad," he started laughing, adjusting his pillow, "that's bad."

"Damn cooyon," she shoved him, leaning up to allow him to get comfortable so she could cuddle close in beside him.

"No, Nicky was hard on you," he assured as she crawled her way onto his chest, "so maybe this is a blessing." He kissed her head, holding her in his arms but she was pulling away, her face deadly serious.

"I told him."

He didn't need any explanation and he should have figured that she would tell their son; they had a relationship that was far beyond what he had ever expected a mother and child to have.

"Really?" he feigned surprise, reaching for her fingers, "When? He didn't say anything to me."

"When you were meeting with Zelenka, when he got back. I explained it all to him."

"And?" he asked the real question that he had, a little apprehensive at the answer.

"He's excited," Adrienne smiled, the smile she only gave him, waves of relief rushing over him.

"Good, that's what I was hoping for," Daniel replied, starting to lay back when he remembered, rolling over quickly to face his wife, "Oh! I forgot! I forgot to tell you! Radek came back with this great idea."

"I'm listening..."

"He wants to start growing trees, on the base, fruit trees. We could have fresh fruit everywhere. It would liven up things, make it feel less robotic and like a spaceship and more like a home..." he didn't even get to finish before she was on top of him, tackling him, wrapping her body around him.

"I love you," she whispered so softly, his face in her hands. He didn't hesitate pulling her to his lips to kiss her softly.

"I love you too," he said as he broke away smiling, "What brought that on?"

"Just you. You have this side. You get things done but you understand what's truly important. Makes me love you even more."

Everything, he thought, this moment right now makes everything worth it.

"Things are really starting to look up. You were right Ad, I can do this..." he was about to thank her for listening to him whine and being his never ending support system but her distracting lips were on his neck, kissing high, making him breathe in.

"We might not be able to get pregnant ourselves, but we can pretend we're still trying..."

_Damn distracting Adrienne._

He groaned out, moving her to where he wanted her on his body, running his hands down her backside.

"But can you make me cupcakes tomorrow ja-wer? I'm out of Twinkies."

The kissing stopped, and the next thing Daniel knew a pillow was being slammed into his face.

Perfect end to a terrible day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

He was walking through a hive ship, the lights brighter than he imagined but maybe he was transposing his own experience of the past years onto the scene. It was oddly loud for a Wraith vessel, not in movement but in voices, conversing voices all around him.

Curious, he dipped around a corner, a gathering of figures clustered ahead. They were not in clothes he was accustomed to, they looked more like the clothing that women would wear and their skin was all wrong.

He was about to step forward, ask them how they had gotten onto the ship when the tallest of the men turned, facing him, his face familiar as well.

This was wrong, this was all wrong, and he spun on his heels to flee, to find an escape pod, to warn John, taking a step without looking.

"You were never here," the man ahead of him stood, a man, a brown skinned man with a black left eye, three taller blue figures standing behind him.

Todd sat up in his bunk, his half human heart pounding in his chest.


	2. Chapter 2 Different Yet So Much the Same

_"Ad!" _

_She hadn't expected him tonight, maybe there was something she had forgotten to do, she thought as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair. _

_"In here Indy," she called out, no longer caring about him barging in; he did that now and it just seemed to be the thing that they should do. _

_"The shower?" she heard in reply, his voice uncertain, nervous. He should know better; she wasn't Vala and with him it was just...different. _

_Damn Vala. _

_Damn Vala being right..._

_They were different..._

_"Shug, it's not like you haven't busted in on me before," she noted, really, how many times had he just yammered on from the other side of the curtain..._

_Too many..._

_"True..." she heard him sit on the toilet, making himself at home. _

_"What's up?" she shouted over the top this time not bothering to open the curtain and peek out at him._

_"Nothing, just didn't know what you were up to tonight." _

_A tinge of excitement fluttered in her stomach. _

_Addy, you really need to stop listening to Vala._

_"I brought some stuff down, gonna finish those lines of translation and get started on those slides for the briefing, why?" and she honestly wondered, maybe Vala isn't insane; maybe there is something I need to see._

_"Oh, ok." _

_He sounds disappointed..._

_"Did you need me to do something?"_

_"No, I was just wondering." _

_She smiled from the other side because she had to admit that she was glad he was here. _

_"I can do my stuff tomorrow, are you alright?" she tested one final time to make sure that everything was all right that he just wanted to be here. _

_I want you here..._

_"Nothing, I had a headache, drank too much coffee." _

_Adrienne laughed. _

_"I tell you to lay off of that, but you just keep chugging." _

_"Like you have room to talk," Daniel spat back, but he was laughing and still in the bathroom, talking to her from the other side like it was nothing, "but anyway I went to take some Advil and there's a giant warning label on the bottle. A handwritten warning label..."_

_Oh, that, she thought. _

_"I care because we're friends," she answered back giggling. _

_"Uh huh. So, as directed, I only took three and I still can't stare at anything without it throbbing. Since you're the one limiting my medication intake, I thought I would come bug you." _

_Damn cooyon..._

_"Pass me a towel," her hand was out of the stall a towel quickly passed over as if he anticipated the request..._

"Ad, leave the water on, I'm running late," the curtain was pulled away as Adrienne finished up, snapping her back to the reality of the present. She couldn't help but giggle at him now as he staggered in behind her, his hair a disheveled mess. He'd been doing better lately, running the base, getting used to the reality of command, even being there for every one of Adrienne's appointments to check her eggs and hormone levels.

It had been twenty-one days of this, testing Teyla, both women synchronizing their cycles, taking the hormones, and he had yet to miss a single step.

Like always, like he had always been from the moment she first laid eyes on him, he was just there, and that was something she would never really stop appreciating.

"What?" he asked as he reached around her, awfully close despite the gigantic size of their shower here on base, not that she minded in the least.

He was just in the shower now with her instead of chatting it up from the other side.

"Nothing, I was just thinking," she said with a smile, reaching out for his bare arm, her arm, the memory washing over her.

"When did I make it to bed?" he asked, still out of it, not noticing her gentle touch at his bicep, Adrienne now reaching up to remove the sleep from his eyes with her wet finger, softly rubbing at one and then the other.

"Late, three, three thirty. I can't remember, I got up to go to the bathroom and you were at your desk, so I got you moving and into bed," she replied with a shrug, resting her hand on his cheek to peer into his eyes, making sure he wasn't pushing himself too far. Better was relative and regardless of getting things under control he was still Daniel Jackson, workaholic extraordinaire.

"Thank you ja-wer," he leaned in, Adrienne kissing him back slowly before rinsing off one last time, satisfied he was just groggy and leaving him to his shower.

Some things change while others just stay the same, she thought, wrapping her towel around herself before going to get dressed and wake up their son.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

The past twenty one days had been a drastic improvement over their first month here.

Daniel had taken Adrienne's advice, not only delegating but asking his department heads to submit all reports electronically unless it was a dire emergency, allowing him to review them at his leisure. It had cut down on unnecessary meetings, thankfully, but had also given him much more time to listen to Rodney bitch about unnecessary things.

Some things just seemed unable to be eliminated completely.

In fact, he had just about everything under control except for one very big problem.

Todd.

He knew he'd have to deal with him, but once he and Adrienne had taken the time to talk to Teyla, then Daniel had met with Radek and finally swung by the jumper bay to get Nicholas, who had been for a ride, one that he intended to NOT mention to his wife, he just didn't want to deal with their uninvited guest.

Instead, he just put it off, as he did the next day and the next day, no one bringing it up again.

It was nearly a week later when John Sheppard had come strolling into his office, asking to speak to him about the Wraith once more, alone this time. He spun some story about how Todd was having dreams, telepathic connections with his Wrath brothers, something John claimed they had the research to uphold. The beast claimed that he had found people, men, humanoid men on a Wraith ship, walking around free and not as food, a Wraith ship led by a human man rather than a queen.

It was utter bullshit.

He'd found since he had denied their prisoner free reign around the base, John had been visiting with the creature regularly. It wasn't that he particularly liked having a prisoner at all, but he also didn't like what was pretty much a vampire being allow to walk around his city, around his family, like it was normal.

To top it off, Daniel had to admit that he was bothered by the fact that given the situation John seemed to align his allegiance with that monster rather than his commander. John Sheppard was supposed to be his second in command and given the chance it seemed as if he would just allow the Wraith to join the crew. John was fighting harder for this abomination of Ancient technology than Daniel had ever seen him fight for anything before, and that worried him greatly. In fact, Daniel hadn't told anyone, but he had made a change in the emergency plan of who would take over the base systems in case he was unable to do so.

He had changed all computing protocol to immediately recognize his wife as the commander of Atlantis after him and he hadn't even mentioned it to her The last thing he needed was the Wraith to gain access to top secret information through his good buddy John.

"Dr. Jackson?" his earpiece buzzed to life, Daniel looking away from the computer screen.

"Yes Davidson, I read you," he replied, scanning his schedule for today which thankfully took him around base checking on operations for most of the morning, even giving him a chance to pop in on Adrienne.

He loved when he got to do that, sometimes even getting to work with her rather than just visit. He didn't realize how bad he would miss working with her on a day to day basis, but it was probably the worst part of this assignment.

"Supply ship's arrived, shall I direct them to the docking bay?" the Lieutenant asked, Daniel noting that they were right on schedule as expected, his first stop of the day.

"Send them to east wing. A lot of the larger supplies are going to Botany so we can save Radek some trouble. I'll be down there in a moment," he replied, wanting to touch base with Cam as soon as possible, a list of his own things needed for the next round ready to go.

"Yes sir," and with that Daniel dismissed the thoughts of Todd and that insanity for yet another time, shutting the lid to his laptop to go down and greet Cameron.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Hello Atlantis!"

The voice coming from the beams of light was definitely not the voice that he expected in a million years, not the voice he thought would be stealing his wife away for some insane workout, and it wasn't until the glare was gone and he saw him, jeans, vest, t-shirt and a fishing pole that he really believed his ears.

"Where's Cam?"

"Oh thanks Daniel, I've missed you too. I'm feeling great, lost the walker and about ten pounds thanks for noticing," Jack O'Neill started in right away, Daniel shaking his head as the man danced around proving his mobility.

"Hi Jack. I'm sorry, it's good to see you and you look great. How are you feeling?" Daniel replied sardonically, still wondering what was going on.

"You don't mean that," the general replied, rolling his eyes.

"Nicholas is gonna be offended that you don't have the walker; he put a lot of time into that..." Daniel answered instead with a sly smile, Jack displaying his fishing pole with pride.

"Nope, those little suckers peeled off no problem, transferred them right on over," Jack replied only then Daniel noticing that the handle was covered in a plethora of hockey stickers.

Of course he had, Daniel thought, shaking his head, why would I have expected anything less; Jack adored the boy.

Regardless, that still begged the question...

"Alright, sorry I was short. I've been waiting for these supplies for weeks and we need to get them down to Botany as soon as possible and I have a mountain of other things waiting for me. So, where's Cam? I need to talk to him. And why are you here?"

"Well," Jack started and stopped, pointing up as a second set of beams came driving into the room, "there've been some changes..."

Daniel was about to ask exactly what he meant by changes when the lights flickered away, Sam standing there smiling, wearing jeans and a t-shirt herself.

"Hi Daniel," she said, walking up and hugging him before he had the chance to speak, leaving him momentarily dumbfounded, looking back and forth between his friends.

"Sam, wait, what's going on? Is everything alright?" he asked, confused.

Had there been an attack?

It had been only three weeks since their last communication. It wasn't the friendliest conversation with Sam via the communication stones, the first of the Todd blowout coming to a head, and she had been unavailable since for any sort of an apology.

Being out of the galaxy kinda took away the option of 'I'm sorry I exploded again' flowers...

"Where's the missus? I've got something for her," Jack interrupted, displaying a paper bag in his hand that Daniel was just now noticing.

"What's in there?" his mind was still racing, trying to guess what tragedy had occurred in his absence while Jack just made a face.

"Cheese pies, Greek cheese pies," the general clarified, opening the bag for Daniel to see, whose hand was already in front of his face, covering it in disgust.

"Jack, dear lord how old are those things?!" he shouted out, stepping away as Jack stuffed the bag closed again.

"Calm the hell down," Jack replied, rolling his eyes, "Sam stored them in some doohickey that kept them fresh, so where's Dr. Perky?"

"Our quarters are down the west wing, first suite outside of the main control room, right off the central tower, or she could be in the lab, depends on how fast she got Nicky moving after I left," Daniel relented, too concerned still as to why they were here to radio Adrienne himself, or question the pies further, Sam giggling at the exchange.

_Ok, they seem happy so Earth must still exist... _

"See, how hard was that?" and he was off, headed across the expansive storage room and toward the back exit.

"How've things been?" Sam asked the moment Jack was away, Daniel reaching to shove his hands into pockets that weren't there.

Maybe Adrienne was right about these stupid uniforms; he missed pockets.

"Good, an adjustment but good," Daniel started to reply deciding quickly to cut to the chase, "really is everything ok? Did something happen?"

Sam, however, was already shaking her head.

"No, everything's fine, good even, but I came to talk to you and not through the stones," her words were cautious, Daniel frowning but looking ahead to the exit himself, motioning for Sam to follow.

"Let's go to my office, we can talk there," he said, worry still troubling his stomach.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

He was hunched over the sketchpad, trying his best to recall his latest dream, the one from only hours before. They came nightly now, long and haunting, his sleep fitful and restless. This time the man, this human, hadn't spoken to him, instead raced around the ship shouting orders to both the Wraith and the other humans on board as the hive led an attack on what appeared to be another hive.

It had been quite the battle, at least the part to which he bore witness, the ship rocking violently in space both in its assault and the hits it was taking.

John had come down late last night, bringing him a human snack, those candies, and his drug/energy cocktail, assuring him that Daniel was going to come around soon, that the supposedly compassionate human commander was finally getting used to his new post.

Todd didn't care.

He wasn't here to impress Dr. Daniel Jackson nor was he here to impress Colonel John Sheppard for that matter. That man in charge seemed to have no intention of freeing him or even expanding his prison to a more humane space, the tight confines of his cell starting to press on him now that he was home again and tormented. He didn't care what that human thought of him, he could drop dead and Todd wouldn't think twice, feeling somewhat the same about John to an extent for just allowing this to continue.

The point was, he didn't want to be here at all.

He had understood when Sheppard and the blond woman, O'Neill her name now was, had come to explain to him that they were on Earth and what was to be done with him. He knew that he needed to stay confined to Atlantis because humans would never understand what he was and the Earth government didn't want to take the risk that he would take the drug needed to survive without human energy if he was set free. He chose not to become human as other Wraith had before him; he liked who he was and had no desire to look like one of them.

But then months turned into years and more years, some of them darker than others as the ZPMs were slowly drained, until the day this supposed perfect commander had taken the city to fight its next battle.

He'd been relieved, not that he would return to a hive ship once they made it back to the Pegasus, but he would have at least left this base and made his own way across the galaxy.

That now, on the other hand, seemed an impossibility.

Besides the thought of accepting his fate, that he would spend the rest of his existence in this cell, this fake apartment John had created for him, were the visions themselves. Todd didn't particularly care one way or another who in the hell the man was that had somehow taken control of a hive, so much so that other Wraith were following his lead, but sleep or even rest had become an impossibility as each time he closed his eyes his subconscious was flooded with these images, these ridiculous visions of insanity.

No Wraith would ever submit to the rule of a human.

But, then again, he had.

Frustrated, Todd reached for the small sharpener to his left, widdling the tip to the level he wanted before continuing his task.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

There was a knock at the lab door, which was odd because Adrienne never had her door closed and hoped that her staff knew they were all welcome. Then again, they were very young cadets and graduate students who were finishing their doctorates and seemed somewhat intimidated that their boss was married to the commander of the entire base.

She understood it to an extent, but she at least hoped she was a friendly face.

After all, they were essentially her newest batch of students.

"Dr. Perky, I come bearing gifts!"

_No way..._

"UNCLE JACK!" and Nicholas was up and tearing across the room, Adrienne not even needing to look up to confirm the identity of her visitor. Nevertheless she did, to see General Jack O'Neill come strolling into her lab seemingly ready for a vacation.

"Jack what are you doing here?" she said hoping her tone didn't seem rude but it was so surreal; he was the last person she expected. Cam yes, had even hoped to see her dear friend, wanted to pick his brain about an alternate training schedule, maybe even borrow a jumper to work out a trail run together on the mainland, but not Jack. He was walking correctly as well, no walker or even a cane, there was even a swagger to his step that made him seem as if he had never suffered a stroke at all.

The sight couldn't have made her happier.

"Why is that the first thing everyone says to me?" he joked, kneeling on the floor to catch the boy barreling toward him into his open arms, "and when did you start walking munchkin?"

"Almost two months ago! Uncle Jack are you gonna stay? How long? My birthday is coming up, please stay until my party!" Nicholas was babbling and it was adorable; Adrienne really only saw her son act like this with Jack and sometimes Ronon. As much as she loved her son and enjoyed his intellect, there was a part of her that was saddened at the fact that he would never enjoy a normal childhood but she was doing to damnedest to make sure he would have at much of it as she could provide.

"Well, we'll have to see..." Jack trailed, Adrienne curious but reading in his face that this wasn't something he wanted to discuss in front of the boy.

"I got you something," he redirected on his own, standing and grabbing a paper sack from the floor, holding it out in front of him toward her, a proud grin plastered across his face.

"What is it?" she was hesitant, a part of her still wondering if she had fallen asleep at her desk and was dreaming all of this.

"Tyropita," he said with a smile, Adrienne ripping the sack from his hand and peeking inside.

"Oh my gawd ya my 'ero!" she shouted out, diving into her treat, walking to grab coffee mugs as she chewed.

"Your mom slipped into that swamp talk of hers; I musta done good," Jack said to the boy, reaching into his pocket and kneeling again.

"Yeah, and she won't share. She says that I still can't chew anything like I should, but I have seven teeth," he said with a smile, flashing his tiny white treasures.

"Well, I brought you something too," Jack said with a smile, handing the small child a few packets, making Adrienne smile as she prepared two cups of coffee.

"What are they?" Nicholas asked as he turned the foil casing around in his hands, frowning much like Daniel did when he was investigating something.

"Baseball cards. We need to start talking baseball," the general stood as the boy ripped open the packets awkwardly with his pudgy hands.

"Baseball..." Nicholas was trailing as he walked away, heading to a small desk in the corner.

"So what are you doing here?" Adrienne couldn't resist asking again as she passed the mug over, Jack rocking his head quickly from side to side as he took his cup.

"Please tell me you don't drink it as sweet as he does?" Jack asked before taking a sip.

"Lord no, I would like to not go into diabetic coma," Adrienne laughed, Jack nodding as he drank.

"As far as what we're doing here, it's a long story. Sam's in with your man, I'll let them work that out," seemed to be all she was gonna get out of him, a part of Adrienne wishing that telepathy was the gift she had gotten from her husband, not this stupid useless healing, "How are things going around here? Daniel hasn't managed to burn down the place?"

_Redirecting again Jack, clever..._

"It's Rodney we have to worry about burning the place down, not Daniel," she answered in jest.

"Ok, I see that Daniel has managed to make sure that Rodney hasn't burned down the place," he amended, taking another sip.

"Indeed," she giggled, motioning for Jack to take a seat as Nicholas was now completely engrossed, his small face shoved into the stats on the cards, "No, it's going pretty well. There was an adjustment period, it's an entire city, little more than co-running a team or leading a department, but he's really got it now."

"I told them I thought he'd do a good job, just about damn time someone listened to me," Jack spoke up, Adrienne smiling, knowing his words to be true.

"I can't say that I don't agree, but then again I'm kinda biased," she said as she sat herself, pushing her work away so she could visit with their guest.

"How are you holding up?" he now asked, Adrienne puzzled; Jack should know better than anyone that Daniel was making sure this wasn't hard on her as well.

"Good, why?" she asked, wondering if there was something that she did need to worry about.

"Uh, well, Sam told me about the baby..."

"Oh," her voice trailed, slightly embarrassed, but Sam was like Daniel's sister, of course he would have told her. It wasn't a secret; while Daniel had thought she didn't tell anyone that they were trying to conceive, Adrienne had been too excited not to. Now that that wasn't going to happen, she had admitted just as openly what was the outcome of their efforts.

Telling Vala first of course, much to Daniel's chagrin.

"Yeah, when Daniel came to talk about, well, Todd..." Jack kept going as if he felt the need to explain, Adrienne nodding her head.

"Oh Todd...my favorite new topic of our marriage," Adrienne tried to joke, when a thought popped into her head.

Might as well tell Jack everything, everyone else on the base knew...

"Well, did she mention that..." Adrienne started with a smile, Nicholas disregarding the cards as his head darted up.

"Teyla's gonna have Mom and Dad's baby!"

_Ok thanks Nicholas..._

"What!?" Jack exclaimed, nearly falling from his chair.

"Guess he didn't..." Adrienne giggled as she reached for her husband's oldest friend, making sure that he wasn't going to go collapsing into the floor.

"It's true!" Baseball cards momentarily forgotten, though Adrienne did see some math that had been scrawled out onto Nicky's notebook, the boy was up and explaining, his hands frantic just like his father would do, "Mom's gotta go down today and they're gonna extract her eggs and then fertilize them with Dad's sperm and make a bunch of little embryos and then see which one takes!"

"Honestly?" Jack was asking Adrienne, but the boy didn't seem to notice.

"Yep, I looked it up," he announced proudly, pointing to his small tablet computer.

"Yes, honestly," Adrienne agreed, Jack now looking over at the boy.

"Nicky, you seem pretty excited."

"Eh," and Nicholas was back over at his desk, trying not to look enthused at all.

"He's excited; don't let him fool you..." Adrienne assured, peering up at the clock, "Speaking of which...I actually have to go down to that very appointment, so Nicholas let's get you down to Uncle Ronon. And I'm not kidding young man I want you out of those damn jumpers..."

"I'll watch him," Jack spoke up, surprising Adrienne so much she knew she made that 'Daniel face' as she stood, peeking back at the general.

"Are you sure?" she didn't mean to sound rude, but he'd just arrived, and she still didn't know why he was here in the first place.

"Yeah, I'll watch him! I'm walker free and ready for action," Jack stood now, quicker than she expected, doing a little dance in place.

_He did look up to the challenge, physically at least..._

"Jack I don't want to dump my child off on you," her next worry escaped her lips, Jack again shaking his head.

"Addy," wow not Dr. Perky, that's something, "you're not dumping him off on me. I haven't seen the little guy in what, two months, we need to catch up."

"If you're sure," she stood there, trying to read his face as she read her husband's, failing this time, miserably, did he mean it, "I mean really sure..."

"Dr. Perky if you ask me if I'm sure one more time..."

_Ok, he said Dr. Perky. That's normal enough. _

"Ok, ok. I'm going," she agreed, grabbing her things and shutting down her laptop quickly, stopping only to look over at her son, "Nicholas..."

"I know Mom. Behave," the head was up for the acknowledgement and back down into the cards, his tiny finger flicking away at the tablet screen as his eyes darted between something there and his notebook.

_Great, something else for the child to obsess about..._

"Right, ok, I'll be right back. Love you!" and she was off, smiling, heading for the appointment, Jack watching as she disappeared around the corridor.

He gave her about thirty seconds before peering down at Nicholas.

"Alright Nicky, you ready to show me where the cool stuff is?" the general whispered to the boy who was already looking up at him, mischief on his face.

"Absolutely."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Daniel noted that Sam didn't have a lot to say on the walk from the supply room to his office, not that he would have been able to say much considering there was some question asked of him either in person or communicator about every ten steps he took. He was proud at first, his dear friend getting to see him in action, that he had figured out how to run an entire city, but by the time he had gotten to the bridge he was afraid that they wouldn't get to talk without being interrupted.

"Davidson," he tapped his lead control room tech on the shoulder, the young man looking up to receive orders, "I need to have a private meeting in my office, can you keep the jackals at bay?"

"Yes, sir," the young man answered with a smile nodding and returning his attention to his console.

"Now let's just hope that Rodney can take 'go away' for an answer," Daniel joked, leading the way, Sam smiling and following without a word as he let himself in, closing the door carefully behind them.

It was only then that she spoke.

"I hope you're less upset..." she led, Daniel almost able to anticipate her words.

"I am," he answered quickly, knowing that was what was most likely bothering her and glad she was here. He had tried to use the stones to get a hold of her since but each time she was unavailable. Daniel had no way of knowing that the reason she was unavailable was because she was headed here, "I understand you were in a bad situation, it was a bad situation for everyone involved. Considering everything, I don't know what else we could have done with him."

"Where is he now?" she dove right in, Daniel looking down at his hands, moving over to his chair in a way that was becoming automatic.

"Still in the brig, have a seat," he replied, Sam pulling out the chair.

"Do you think that's wise?" she muttered softly, Daniel only shrugging, none of those other tell-tale things he knew made him look less sure of himself.

"I can't have a Wraith walking around on this base. Not only does it put the lives of my personnel in danger but we have children on this base; we have my child on this base," he answered, calmly and clearly.

"No, no I understand," she spoke quickly because in truth she did; she would hate for anything to happen to his son, or anyone else's for that matter, "But I've met with Todd a few times over the years and John seems to have..."

"John's relationship with that monster is none of my concern."

He felt a pang of guilt at the harshness of his words, Sam looking away for a moment as if she was expecting a fight.

At least he could do flowers here, thanks to Radek.

"That's honestly not why I'm here though," she said instead of continuing her argument, looking up at him carefully.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, her expression changing, not that business face he had gotten used to over the past few years as she led the SGC but Sam, really Sam, something weighing on her heavily.

"Yeah. Jack's recovered very well from the stroke. There are some minor motor skill issues, but he can easily compensate given that he's stayed is such good shape over the years. It's all turned out much better than we thought," she began, sitting back more comfortably in the seat now that the Wraith was no longer the topic of discussion.

"But..." Daniel led, Sam shrugging.

"But it's all a bit much for him. He gets headaches, there is some residual pain in his right leg, and his tolerance for, well, bureaucracy in general is all but gone. If you think he was bad before, well, let's be glad I took that zat out of his office," she joked, Daniel laughing as his eyes darted to his very own weapon, stored here in his desk at his wife's suggestion.

_I could always zat Rodney..._

"It's not just that," she continued, "There've been a lot of changes since you left, not bad, just different and the IOA, while still remaining out of our hair for the most part is back to being a part of things and," she paused again, sighing, "honestly Daniel we've had it. Jack's retired, really retired this time, and I have resigned my position as the head of the SGC."

Daniel wasn't sure if his jaw dropped or he swore, but Sam was nodding either way to confirm his surprise.

"Wait, who's running Command!?"

Now he was completely confused, worried what bureaucrat had taken over with Woolsey deceased for months; who in the world he would be reporting to now at his monthly check-ins.

"Telford has taken over Homeworld Command and Cameron was promoted to general. He's running the SGC," she answered, seeming happier about the last assignment than the first.

"Oh wow," he said, because really what else could you say to that...

"Jonas has taken over SG-1, he was pretty excited about that, and he serves with Ry'ac, Ann Mardsen and Lt. Hailee. Leita has stayed on in the lab, she works it when Jonas is away. They're a good team and I've been letting Cassie tag along as well, it's all working out better than I could have expected," she added, Daniel shaking his head, especially glad that Cassie seemed to move up as well.

"Sam I just don't know what to say..."

"Nothing, there's nothing to say. It's what was best, what needed to happen, but to the point," she kept talking, the archaeologist's curiosity at full throttle, "Daniel, I've come here to ask you for a job. I miss researching, I miss having a lab. I want to get my hands dirty and do something again, make a difference again."

_Well, that was unexpected..._

"But Sam..."

"And I understand if you need to think about it, talk to command, meet with Telford, but I don't want to serve on the team because it's not our team anymore and I don't want to run supply runs. I feel of all of our programs this is the cutting edge in the next stage of our research."

She had a point, a good one at that. With Atlantis at full power and the Wraith not banging down their door, this was the place to be for advanced studies in the area of human origins and space exploration.

Plus, it'd be nice having her and Jack around; he'd missed them, even if he would never tell Jack.

"You do realize you'd have to work with Rodney," Daniel was cautious, trying to make sure she understood what she was asking.

"Yeah, Jack pointed that out," she laughed in reply.

"There's no cable here," Daniel added, his thoughts now on Jack who he wasn't so sure had really thought through this idea, "I'm really lucky that Adrienne hasn't gone into a complete and total meltdown as it is..."

"We understand and Jack has added recordings of his favorite shows to the supply runs, and I think he included Adrienne's shows to sweeten the deal," she said with a grin.

Of course he had, with cheese pies to boot. One good shot of a blond viking vampire and Adrienne would be his supporter forever.

"The 'deal' doesn't need sweetening Sam; of course you can stay. There are some things that we need to take care of but of course, we welcome you," he said standing, walking around the desk to catch the hug that was coming towards him.

"Thank you, you don;t know what this means to both of us. Jack needs this, we need this and, well, it's just not the same without you there," she muttered, Daniel squeezing her tightly, feeling exactly the same.

"I know what you mean. Besides, Adrienne needs more positive female influences in her life. With as many hours as I work sometimes, she spends a LOT of extra time with Vala...a lot of time with Vala..." he added as he pulled away, directing Sam to his computer system to locate them appropriate lodgings.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

He sat in the chair, looking at the picture in his hands. He had never seen this man before other than in his dreams and he had no idea why he felt it was so important, but there was something about him, something that was just wrong.

He was an abomination.

Infuriated, Todd tossed the pad aside, slamming himself back into the recliner, this stupid chair John got for him over a year ago for some stupid Earth holiday.

He was done.

He wanted away from humans, their stupid holidays, that overeducated idiot that was supposed to be his savior and this hell hole. More than that, he wanted these damn visions out of his head, away from the man that was haunting him day in and day out. It didn't seem that John cared to hear about it anymore and this Dr. Jackson wasn't planning on ever letting him out of this cage.

He needed to face this abomination, whatever he was, figure out why he was leading a hive, figure out why not one hive had been seen near the city, figure out what had happened in his home galaxy.

If there was one thing this Dr. Jackson did not understand was that something was very wrong here whether or not he chose to recognize it.

Reaching under his bunk, Todd grabbed one of the pencils from his case, the wood sharp and the lead broken away. Peering behind himself for just a moment to make sure he was alone, thankful John had said he didn't need guards in the vicinity, Todd looked down at his wrist, knowing what he had to do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Daniel had locked his office door at five, like a normal person heading down for a normal procedure. Carson called down only forty minutes ago to say that the eggs had been extracted successfully, Daniel almost skipping all the way down to the infirmary.

He was gonna be a dad.

Again.

Everything here really was going exactly as he had dreamed, even if he had had a bit of a rough start. He had the perfect job with the woman he never had imagined could ever exist, and an amazing son. His friends had arrived and he hadn't realized how much he missed Jack and Sam until they'd shown up, Jack who he hadn't even spent more than a brief moment with. The general, no retired general, apparently scooped up Nicholas as soon as he arrived, and the two of them were taking a tour of the city, Daniel knowing that the boy would have his pseudo-uncle to the jumper bay first thing.

Adrienne was gonna have a fit, but the boy's obsession with flying was something Daniel found hilarious.

After making a note to use the communication stones to make his way to the Destiny for a meeting with Telford, Daniel had taken Sam straight to the next set of quarters closest to he and Adrienne's, another large set, thankfully closer than Ronon and Vala. Not that he wanted to shove in Vala's face that Sam and Jack were closer, but he kinda liked the barrier that they gave them, maybe even keeping Vala out of his bedroom activities.

She knew enough about that as it was.

He rushed into the main infirmary, Adrienne sitting on a stool beaming, her procedure evidently not as invasive as he had worried.

"Hey Indy! We're ready for you!" she was absolutely glowing, making his heart skip a beat. He couldn't help himself, it had just been such a wonderful day, racing to take her into his arms, kissing her, Dr. Beckett standing there and all.

"You seem happy," Adrienne giggled as he pulled away, but letting go, his arms resting lightly at her waist.

"Just a great day, I'll fill you in later. Ok, I'm here, let's get started," he announced, his wife pulling away from his loose embrace to reach behind herself. She turned with a smile, Adrienne placing a cup into his hand, the commander pausing, his eyes wide.

He'd forgotten about this part.

_Dammit._

"All right Daniel, we'll be working on getting the dishes started for the incubation just bring that out when you're done," Carson directed, pointing to a complicated array set up behind him, an array that hopefully would bring their second child into this world.

_Oh dear lord..._

Her focus on the set-up as well, Adrienne started to walk away with Carson, Daniel grabbing her wrist, his face in a panic, pulling her to him.

"Can't you come in there with me?" he asked, feeling so stupid asking but even more stupid having to go into an exam room with everyone on the outside knowing what was going on. Adrienne made a face, blushing, shaking her head at his request.

"No Daniel, just go in there, do your business and come back. We're nowhere near you," she assured, pulling away, trying to escape this situation he was sure.

"Ad, I can't," his voice was low, his eyes everywhere but on hers.

_I am such an idiot..._

_And my wife thinks that too right now based on the look on her face..._

"Daniel, gawd, you canna expect me to believe that ya never..."

"Dammit, Ad, of course I did, but that was, well, before YOU..."

"Sha, listen just go in there and pretend..."

"Pretend what?"

And her hand was to her nose, pinching the bridge, shaking her head.

"Indy, did you expect us to just have sex and magically Teyla would get pregnant?" she questioned, so calmly, Daniel frowning at her in response rather than saying a word...

"She CAN go in there with him if he's that upset about it, no one cares..." Jennifer whispered quietly to Carson who was doing everything in his power not to erupt into laughter.

"Oh, of course not, none of us care, but it's funnier to watch them argue over it for a while," he responded, bringing his hand to his mouth as Daniel continued.

"Adrienne, don't make me beg," he hissed now, knowing that there were eyes on him making him feel that much more ridiculous.

"Daniel Anthony, get in dat gawh damn exam room and do whateva it takes ta get us ah baby. Got it?"

Cajun, she'd slipped into Cajun; there was no getting her in there now. Frowning, he squeezed the cup in his hand, storming off to get the doctors what they needed.

"Everything ok?" Jennifer asked as Adrienne returned to the counter, blushing furiously, her Southern prudishness finally coming to a head.

"Yeah, just kind of an awkward thing to do you know?" she replied, Carson laughing.

"Just gotta think of the whole thing as science, it's about getting everything started to get you two another little one!" He was so sweet; his words soothing, making Adrienne feel instantly better.

Nicky was gonna get a sibling.

"Speaking of, I'm gonna go try to hunt down my son, although I don't think it's gonna be that difficult," Adrienne announced with a smile, Carson chuckling.

"I'll radio you as soon as he gets out in case you want to be here to see how this goes but otherwise, it's a slow process. We're gonna be here a while."

Nodding in thanks, Adrienne marched out of the infirmary to find her son, see how his afternoon went when there was a buzzing at her ear, a private communication.

"Ja-wer?" it was Daniel, of course, whispering, his voice echoing in the empty exam room. She giggled and kept walking, heading for the transports to take her to the jumper bay.

"What sha?" she asked even though she knew the what. There a pause, shuffling in the background and for a moment she almost stopped to go back and try to make him feel better, maybe even...

"It's too awkward," he mumbled, Adrienne halting mid-stride. Sighing out, she glanced around her to make sure she was alone, jetting into a little alcove to her left just in case anyone were to approach.

"Alright, think about last week, on your desk, when you were working late on those energy reports...do you remember that?" she whispered, her heart racing itself at the memory of his gentle kisses and the coolness of his office in contrast to the heat they were making.

"Yeah..." and she could tell by the tremble in his voice that he did too.

"Remember what I did in there...with the ice," she said, taking a breath trying not to get herself worked up right here in the hall. There was a click, the communication ended, Adrienne trying to calm her racing heart while suppressing a giggle.

"I married such a dork," she said to herself, readjusting her uniform before heading once more to the elevators, trying desperately NOT to think about ice cubes and dark offices...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX*

In the past it wouldn't have hurt so badly, but it had literally been years since he had fed off of a human and as much as his drug and energy cocktail worked it didn't afford him the same regenerative powers that a real feeding would have. He was bleeding inside his sleeve, the liquid thin and weak, as weak as he was now.

It was sheer luck that the halls of the base were quiet, probably because they had brought a smaller crew than before, though John Sheppard had not told him this; he felt the presence of fewer minds in his head when he reached his senses out. But now, he had a need and while he didn't want to carry it out it didn't seem like he was going to have much of a choice in the matter.

He noted the differences in the ship as he powered through the halls, small trees growing in alcoves, each and every light on rather the emergency ones he had grown accustomed to in the final days he was allowed to venture through the ship before being cast aside like he had done nothing to help them. It was a slap in the face but he hadn't been angry about it, until now, until he was home after years of proving his loyalty.

And they had done this to him.

Todd staggered slightly, his vision woozy, knowing the deed had to be done. No longer avoiding the main corridors, he scanned the area seeing a lone human come skittering toward him, face buried in some piece of Lantian technology. Taking a breath he stepped out, reaching for the young man's throat and silencing him before he could scream out for help.

He just needed a little bit to keep going.

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"You know, grounding is something that can start at any age as long as the groundee has the cognitive ability to understand why and how he is being punished," Adrienne tried to play serious as she saw Jack standing over the pilot's seat of the jumper, knowing her son was in the captain's chair.

"This one's broken Mom, Ronon's been taking it apart for two days. I was just showing Uncle Jack how to read the control panel and Ronon said he'd be right back," Nicholas answered, not smart but carefully, as if he had been taking lessons from his father.

"Your brainiac can read Ancient I see," Jack noted over his shoulder, Adrienne shrugging as she leaning against the back hatch.

"And French, Unas, Elvish from Tolkien, English, am I missing any?" she teased her son, his adorable little face popping around the corner.

"Latin," he amended.

"How could I forget?" she laughed in reply, about to ask if anyone wanted to head down to the infirmary and watch the miracle of life happen when there were shouts behind her and blasts, zat blasts.

It was then the world slowed...

Jack was shouting, Adrienne ordering him as if she were in charge to cover Nicholas, the general complying as he threw his body over the boy. She turned, glancing behind to see a security officer fall, not Ronon, where WAS Ronon, Nicholas said he'd be right back, a figure with his hand stuffed into his jacket pushing past, zat gun in hand.

A blue figure, one that was not totally a man.

It was Todd.

Without thinking about anything other than the safety of her child, both the one in front of her and the one that was hopefully being made downstairs, Adrienne slammed the button on the back of the pod, the latch closing slowly, slower than she would like as there were more shouts and blasts, the Wraith running toward the jumper furthest from her.

"Addy don't!" Jack was screaming as the door closed, trapping him inside with the equally as loud child, shouting 'MOM' from the captain's chair. The door shut, secure she hoped, Adrienne turning to see the bottom of his robe-like shirt dip around the corner.

"Stop!" she screamed, racing after him, another young woman falling at her feet. He turned aiming his weapon at her for just a second but not firing, pivoting on his feet to continue to dart in the direction of a ship. Without hesitation he raced past Apollo, droplets of black blood flicking onto the yellow paint of the beetle as he dashed by.

He's injured, she thought, severely injured and trying to escape.

Picking up her pace she dashed forward, this thing knew secrets, he could come back here, bring a hive, kill her family, kill them all and she had to stop him. He was running up the ramp of an open jumper, one she knew was operational, one that because of that John had separated from the broken ships in the fleet, Adrienne making it to the bottom seconds after.

"Don't move!" she ordered realizing only in that moment that she didn't have a zat, a staff weapon or anything, not even her stupid wool uniform jacket, standing in front of this threat with only her fists to protect her.

"Let me go," it hissed, its voice both human and not, chilling Adrienne to the core.

"I can't do that," she said, stepping forward, her husband's voice, her conscious, screaming in the back of her head for her not to go any closer.

The last thing Adrienne remembered was that wounded hand, no that wounded stump, heading for the direction of her face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

He was leering, he knew he was, but the entire process was fascinating. He watched carefully as Carson extracted a part of him from a cup with a very small syringe, inching it toward the petrie dish for his DNA to hopefully find the egg as easily as it had nearly twenty months ago.

He was so engrossed in fact, his heart racing, his mind chanting that it needed to work, that there was just a part of him that felt this second child was meant to be, that he didn't notice the alarms at first, Ronon's voice echoing in his ear.

"DANIEL!" the Satedan was repeating over and over until even Carson glanced in his direction, hearing the shouts, "Todd's escaped!"

It didn't take more than a second to register once that name was uttered before Daniel was racing out of the infirmary, heading for his security officer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Ow!" Adrienne shoved his hand away from her face, the first thing he grabbed as he sat down on the edge of the infirmary bed.

"Ad, let me look at it," he scolded, Adrienne smacking his arm harder.

"It's a black eye Indy, dammit, stop poking at it. I've had plenty, hell Teal'c's given me plenty," she argued, Daniel finally pulling his hand away.

"Why did you go after him?" and now it was time for the scolding to commence, Adrienne already drawing her face into a frown.

"Because I didn't think having a Wraith who knew the base dancing around the Pegasus was a great idea, sorry," she snapped back, Daniel eyeing Jack who still had Nicholas in hand, seeming to refuse to let him go.

"I told her to stop and she locked me in a jumper," Jack added, the Cajun glare, puffy as it may be right now, directed his way.

"Adrienne don't ever do something like that again," Daniel continued, Sam reaching for his shoulder to make him stop, lest the woman lash out at him, which, given her current battered condition was quite likely.

Luckily, she just grumbled.

"He didn't want to kill me Daniel. It was weird, he didn't try to hurt anybody. He just zatted one person and ran," Adrienne explained instead, Daniel cutting her off quickly.

"No, he fed Ad, on two people," he corrected, a throat clearing behind him.

"Actually Daniel, he didn't get that much. Granted, he fed, but we are only looking at a very small level. If Adrienne was right and he was injured then it looks like he only took enough to get himself to the jumper and flee," Carson explained, bringing over the medical record on the young man and woman, both of which were in private rooms behind them.

"See," the Cajun argued, "there was something else. That injury, it was his hand I think, he flung blood everywhere and kept stuffing his arm inside his shirt. I actually think he hit me with a stump, but he was just trying to get away, not hurt me."

Daniel sat back, still angry with her for endangering herself and vowing to have this discussion later, in private, his mind filled with a dozen questions at least.

If only two staff members were injured, three if you counted his foolish wife, why in the world did he escape?

Was there a hive he didn't know about?

"He did," John's voice was shouting from behind, a blue hand held in his own, "it was a stump all right!"

"Dear God..." Sam sputtered, John walking, the still moving appendage clasped in his own.

"He hacked it off, with a pencil by the looks of it. Must have known it would be able to crawl over to the control panel and hit the release," he continued, tossing the hand onto a medical tray, the fingers opening and closing, the hand trying to escape.

"He cut off his own god damn hand," Jack said, trying to hide Nicky's eyes but the boy leaned out of his arms, curious.

"That HAD to hurt," he noted, his small eyes wide.

"No shit," Jack replied as the hand continued to dance and thrash.

"How long does it stay like that?" Adrienne asked, equally as mesmerized, tempted for a moment to reach out and touch it but refraining, Daniel noting her movement.

"Indefinitely," he replied, reaching carefully for her leg and running his hand up and down it lightly, "when the files says vampiric species Ad they aren't kidding. THIS is your real life Eric Northman."

His wife didn't reply, she didn't need to; her face said it all, in a split second realizing her error in facing the creature alone and unarmed. Reading it as he did, he scooted forward on the bed, taking her hand lightly into his own.

"There's more," John said, looking back over his shoulder where Ronon and Vala were approaching, the former holding what looked like a sketch pad in his hands. Daniel frowned, standing, leaving Adrienne to collect the notebook, not liking the look on either face as they approached him.

"What's this?" Daniel asked, John crossing his arms, shaking his head in frustration.

"His sketch pad, among other things, he taught himself how to draw," John replied, taking the pad from Ronon instead, flipping through a few of the pages. Daniel caught images of a hive ship, his room, some TV characters but John only lingered there for a moment before turning to the last page, the word "HIM" scrawled at the bottom.

"Do you recognize the face?" John asked, Daniel finally directing his attention to the page.

He did, it had been a long time but he knew exactly who he was looking at.

In his hands, John Sheppard was holding a hand drawn sketch by a Wraith prisoner who hadn't seen the light of day in years, who had never met the man in the picture.

Because the man in the picture was Lieutenant Aiden Ford.


	3. Chapter 3 - A Helping Hand

Adrienne reached into her computer bag, her right hand fishing for the small bottle to no avail; she must have left it in the lab. She was about to try to catch Carson as he left the weekly meeting, see if he by chance had anything on him when she felt fingers at her jawline, guiding her gaze upward.

"You need to go rest," Daniel ordered gently, Adrienne shaking her head in the negative.

"No, I promised Rodney I'd get through the end of the thermal link information so he can get working on that and Sam can get started on configuring the computer systems. She wants my help with that too..." her voice trailed, her never ending to-do list racing through her head. Sure, she understood what it was to be a department head, but archaeology and anthropology was what Adrienne thought she would be doing, yet so far she was doing nothing but translating and playing computer geek. Add to that being a parent, to Nicholas Jackson no less, her greatest challenge in life thus far.

"Let me see that eye," he urged, his thumb already to the area in question, running it there so lightly it almost tickled.

"It's been three days Indy; it's healed," Adrienne insisted, lying because it still hurt like hell and he knew it, pulling away as Daniel frowned, glancing at his watch.

"I need to get Nicholas from Vala; John wants her to test fly some jumpers that he and Dex have been working on," she argued, Daniel shaking his head as he pursed his lips.

"Ja-wer, I feel like this is a vicious cycle that we're trapped in. We get bogged down, the two of us take turns working ourselves to death until one of us has a breakdown, then the other is completely out of commission nursing the ill one back to health. Do we see a pattern here?"

Now she made the face, averting her eyes from his. He had a point, he always had a point, they tended to kill themselves with work, but this time he didn't get it. His current obsession, no, as he was calling it his 'area of focus' was to find Todd who had slipped away into space in one of the fully functioning jumpers.

The Wraith she let slip away.

The logical part of her mind knew it was stupid, what in the world could she have done, but she still felt like she had let Daniel down, allowing the injured creature to knock her out and fly away in the stolen...

"Stop," his words were harsher now, his fingers at her chin to meet his gaze, "I know you Ad, cut it out. I'll go get Nicky, you go take a nap."

"Daniel, I've got to.."

"No," he countered, but Adrienne was shaking her aching head, Daniel stepping back to cross his arms across his chest.

"Fine," he added, "you want to play it that way we can. Dr. Jackson, I'm ordering you to your quarters for the remainder of the day. You didn't get proper rest after your injury and you're feeling ill. I will not tolerate sloppy work due to illness under my command. Are we clear?"

"I hate you," she spat, her eyes rolling.

"No, you don't and for the record, I would do the same to any other member of my staff. The only reason I let you return to work that afternoon was because you're my wife. No more favoritism," he explained, Adrienne grumbling when her eyes widened as she looked back up at him.

"Well, you can't keep Nicky in here with you all day," she argued, Daniel shaking his head having already anticipated this as well.

"Actually, today I can," he said, pulling out his tablet to display his calendar, "I don't have any meetings, just heading around base to check on a few things while Ronon's on recon. Nicholas will love it."

Adrienne sighed. He was right, their son loved learning, he was such a sponge and to make the rounds of the city with his dad and get to ask questions would be much more interesting than hanging out in their quarters playing video games while Adrienne read and slept.

"Ok, I'll go rest. But Daniel, we need to talk about this. We can't keep juggling Nicky around between personnel or forcing him to endure our jobs. It's not fair to anyone," she added, her husband shrugging as if he had been thinking the exact same thing.

"No, you're right. I was thinking about it last night. I need Ronon and Vala to find Todd, Sam and Rodney together to get things running, in all wings, and Teyla, considering any day now she's gonna be hosting our child I don't feel like I can ask her anything else," he admitted, Adrienne nodding as she packed up her things, "so I was thinking of asking Jack."

Adrienne stopped packing.

"Excuse me?"

"I was thinking of asking Jack. Sam says he's retired, but how long's that gonna last? He's gonna go crazy with boredom," Daniel argued as he shut down the briefing room, stuffing his own things into his case, "Besides, he's had Nicky nearly every day since they've arrived as it is."

She had her arms across her chest, ready to debate him, but he had a point. Jack and Nicholas had been inseparable for the past seventy two hours, so much so that it wasn't until this morning Adrienne had to ask for any help at all. It had been nice and Nicholas seemed to listen to the general, not that he didn't listen to others, but there was this respect and awe when it came to Jack.

It might not be a bad idea...

"Ad? You in there? Jack's not an idiot," Daniel was still rambling, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Yeah, no I'm here but Indy think for a sec. He wants to spend his days fishing, relaxing, he'll never agree to it. You can't just march down to their room and say 'Jack I want you to be our nanny,' " she tried not to giggle as a vision of general Jack O'Neill in a Mary Poppins outfit popped into her head because she really didn't want him to be a nanny; he deserved better than spending his days as a glorified babysitter.

"I'm not and he's not gonna be the nanny. Think of it more as the buddy system. They can keep one another out of trouble and that lets Jack still be available for me if I need him and he's willing," Daniel had thought this through, Adrienne could tell, so she relented, tossing her bag across her chest. It would be nice to be able to have Jack at the ready, conveniently, for unofficial advice, without any IOA officials wondering why Jack was spending more time with the Jacksons than a normal friend would.

"Then how are you gonna do it?"

Daniel's grin was unmistakable, yep, she thought, Daniel's planned this...

"Oh trust me ja-wer, I have my ways..."

Trusting him, something that sometimes bit her in the butt, Adrienne gave him a cautious kiss before heading down to their room to get medication and relax as ordered, to an extent. She peeked over her shoulder as her husband sauntered back into his office, a sly smile across her face.

"Sam?" she whispered as she tapped her ear, ducking her head down to hide her voice.

"I'm here."

"He benched me, stupid Indy, can you bring that stuff down to my room?" Adrienne quickly went to plan 'B', Sam giggling in her ear.

"Already on it; I'll be there in ten," she replied, Adrienne's headache easing already.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"His majesty graces the masses!"

It was declarations just like that that annoyed Daniel when he entered a room, declarations that no one made except for Jack, well and Vala, but he'd gotten extra practice ignoring her lately.

"You finished?" he said as he stopped at the door.

"As long as you're in charge of this place? Never," was about the best answer he was going to get.

"Got any beer?" Daniel dove right in, his eyes lingering at his watch noting that based on the clock system he and Rodney had set it was only a little after ten in the morning.

Perfect.

"Woah," Jack sat up from his recliner, the request getting his attention as Daniel had hoped, "what in the hell has gotten into you?"

"Vala," Daniel started to work his magic, noticing that Jack wasn't getting up to get him anything but that didn't matter. He had his old friend's attention and that was what he was here for.

"Isn't that supposed to go the other way around?"

"Christ Jack, really?"

_Ok, attention but not like that..._

"Sorry, I forget that Dr. Perky put a stop to all of that carrying on," Jack replied laughing at Daniel's flushing.

He enjoyed all of that way too much.

"I have to say, I'm so glad that Sam is here, I am, because Vala is not only is putting her nose into my relationship, you and Addy should do this or that, but she's starting to weigh in on our parenting. It just gets old..." Daniel set bait number two, Jack's face screwing in confusion.

"What in the hell does she know about parenting? I think her experience with the demon spawn should have been enough," he shot back, Daniel shrugging.

"Why does she get to spend so much time with the little guy anyway?" the retired general continued, Daniel taking a seat in a nearby chair.

"I can't keep him in the office, some of the personal that are not as friendly with us don't take to it too well, especially given his abilities. Adrienne can't be expected to keep him with her every second, she has a job to do here as well, so Vala and Ronon step in when they can," he explained, his hands folded in front the him.

"Wait?" Jack sat up again, "Vala's your babysitter? Could things between you and her get any weirder?"

Again, Daniel simply shrugged, letting Jack take in the situation.

_Weirder than her being my wife's closest friend, nooo, but we'll not mention that for now..._

"The boy needs someone with a brain to fill in when you two eggheads can't be there," Jack said from his hand, where it was now resting against his face, the general rubbing his chin.

"Jack where do you presume I find competent childcare in the Pegasus galaxy?"

_Take it...take it..._

"Right here," Jack replied smugly, pointing to himself as he sat back in his chair.

_Shit, it worked. It really worked... Act shocked Daniel..._

"You?"

_That should be convincing enough. _

"Yes, me," Jack said with a frown, "The boy needs to learn how to be a man and I really don't see that happening if I don't intervene."

_Yes he just insulted your masculinity, let it go..._

_I'll let Adrienne defend that..._

"Jack, I can't ask you..."

"You aren't asking me. I'm telling you. Get the kid up, feed him and have him report to my quarters no later than eleven hunred," Jack was up, directing, going over to his dresser to presumably get ready.

Hiding his smile Daniel stood from the chair, turning to collect his son, hoping this bright idea wouldn't blow up in his face. After all he had assured Adrienne this would work and in their marriage, parenting was yet another way to compete with one another.

He needed a win.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"I have no problem coming down, but he's gonna kill you," Sam said with a smile, securing the door behind her.

"Nah, he'll fuss and fight and then I'll just feed him. That tends to work better than I ever expected," Adrienne replied, Sam chuckling.

"Either way, I appreciate your help on this. This has really bothered me since I left, it was on my list of initiatives from before but not something Rodney felt important, given, well, how the original system was put into place..." Sam explained as she hit the switch on the wall, a table popping out from the side.

"Trust me, I need this. I was just telling Indy last night that I feel a little out of touch. He was going to have me take a small team to the mainland, excavate, look for traces of the Athosians as well as any earlier civilizations the jumper scans are showing might have been there, but with Todd? Well, let's just say that his little overprotective streak is back and I'm trying to be patient with him," the archaeologist answered as she made her way to the bathroom to secure the needed medicine from earlier.

"He'll get better, trust me. Command is hard enough without the fear of your wife and child getting hurt," Sam replied, unpacking her things, "he already thinks fate is just teasing him."

"Teasing him?" the Cajun yelled from the bathroom, "What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It was something he said to Jack, the other night when we arrived. Addy, you guys have passed a year just married and been together, what two years now? Nearly three?"

Halting her advance back into the main area, Adrienne paused at the doorframe, downing the pills dry.

"Two and a half," she answered in a whisper, "it's been two and a half years since I told him that I loved him too..."

"Things like this don't happen to Daniel Addy, just bear that in mind," Sam offered softly, "he tends to be the one that loses it all."

Without a word, her face furrowed as she was deep in thought, Adrienne diverted her path from the table, walking right into the bedroom, kneeling and reaching under the bed.

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"And there will be no back talk and if your Mom says you can only eat twigs and pine cones then twigs and pine cones it is!"

He had to admit he was pretty damn impressed that the little guy had stood there for the entire speech and had arrived on time, something he did not get, thankfully, from his mother.

Adrienne Jackson couldn't make it anywhere on time if her life depended on it.

Jack waited a moment for Nicky to respond, to say anything, but the boy just stood there, his tiny hands clasped behind his back.

"Well?" Jack goaded, Nicky looking him straight in the eye.

"Yes sir?" the boy tried, Jack roaring with laughter.

"You thought I was serious?"

"Dad said to behave and he gave me that look..." Nicholas started, Jack shaking his head.

"He's been giving me that look for years and do you think I pay any attention?"

That got the boy to smile.

"Alright, so today's agenda is to make it look like we have daily agendas," he continued, walking over to a whiteboard hanging in the corner.

"What's that?" Nicholas followed, with the same look of curiosity that Daniel always had.

"This my dear munchkin is a calendar and planner," Jack explained, taking a marker out of his pocket.

"No Uncle Jack, that is a blank whiteboard," the child corrected.

"For now..." the general replied, peering back at Nicholas, "this is how we keep this Jack and Nicky and Jack and Nicky alone."

Again, the boy was all smiles.

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It was all rather impressive and much more than he had expected, Rodney's cloning technique coupled with some information Adrienne had been translating during their early days on Atlantica, allowing Dr. Radek Zalenka to create the garden to end all gardens.

"You seem pleased," Radek was beaming and had every right to do so, Daniel just shaking his head in sheer amazement.

"This is spectacular Radek, truly spectacular. You should be very proud of all of this," the commander praised, his eyes not on the recipient of the praise but on the array of green spread out in front of him.

He had given Zalenka the largest lab in this wing, much to Rodney's dismay, hoping he could start growing food for them, but he had done so much more. In the short time they had been here, Radek was growing nearly every vegetable that they could imagine, an entire area dedicated to medicinal herbs, rows and rows of popular decorative flowers and now Daniel was here to get Radek's plan for the Destiny, to help them attempt to grow things themselves with their own limited supplies.

"Now, Dr. Jackson, we can start here, where you can see..."

Daniel should have been listening, he should have, but the sheer volume of food that was being grown here at such an amazing rate was just spellbinding and as Zalenka rattled off a rather extensive list of fruits and vegetables, more than he thought he had read in his preliminary report, Daniel just stood in amazement.

What was running through the archaeologist's head, instead, was how cool Nicholas would think all of this was and how he had been somewhat disappointed that Jack wanted to start their little adventure today.

Maybe I should call them, he thought, see if Nicholas wants to come down and see all of this. He held up a finger, for Radek to stop speaking, which he did, starting to reach for his communicator when he paused, frowning.

"Is everything alright?" Radek asked, Daniel nodding. Cool garden or not, he didn't want Jack to think he was checking up on him; he was still worried about Jack feeling insulted being his son's caretaker.

"Yeah, sorry, thought I had an incoming message but no, carry on," he replied, wondering what his son was doing right now...

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"It looks like school," Nicholas said from his knees, peering over at his temporary guardian.

"Exactly, you're catching on," Jack replied, capping the marker and gathering the whiteboard from the floor to hang it on the wall.

"But that's kinda like lying," the boy pointed out, Jack shaking his head quickly.

"No, lying would be if we're not doing any of these things, but we are," Jack explained, pointing to Thursday, "this says math. We are gonna learn about how to calculate RBI. Today says science. We are gonna learn how to fish. See, both subjects covered."

Nicholas frowned.

"You're giving me the Daniel look."

"No, that's the mom glare, my eyes are just a bit lighter than hers."

"Look squirt, do you want to do this or not? Wanna be trapped watching your parents work all day?" Jack reasoned, noting the boy's eyes were nearly hazel in color, nothing like those voodoo eyes of his mother. He started to protest further, point out that Nicholas didn't really need formal school as advanced as he was, and he was sure that Daniel and Adrienne already the closest they could get in place, when he saw that the boy was smiling.

"Of course I want to Uncle Jack," the child answered quickly, "listening to Rodney scream at Dad all day just makes me mad and poor Mom's been doing nothing but translating. She's going slowly insane."

"Your dad became me and your mom became him," Jack responded, standing to hang the board back onto the wall, "so that means I get to become, well, nobody and you're gonna come with me. Go grab my pole..."

And then he staggered, swearing under his breath, catching himself on the nearby desk, dropping the whiteboard.

"Are you ok Uncle Jack?" Nicky asked, Jack nodding, bringing himself halfway to his feet, walking hunched over to the bed, sitting and leaning for his nightstand. Straining, Nicholas rushing to the side, Jack pulled the drawer opening, his hand rummaging inside the sparse contents.

"It's ok, just pain every now and then, need my medication." Nodding, the boy unloaded the contents of the drawer carefully, reading each label, shaking his head at Jack.

"It's not here, everything here is for stomach pain or indigestion, nothing for joint or muscle pain."

_Great first day on the job Jack..._

"Alright munchkin, change in science lessons for the day. I need you to go and get Dr. Beckett or Dr. Keller, can you do that? Quickly?" he asked, his stomach tense with nerves as he rationalized sending a ten month old child out into the city. Granted, it was a small, protected city, a protected city run by the boy's father, but still it was a stupid decision, and Jack sat up, slowly, intending on changing his mind but the boy was gone, the door to the hallway sitting wide open.

"Dammit," he swore, but trapped by pain to do anything else except for stare at his ear communicator sitting on the side table, just out of reach.

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"Fo gawd! WHY did I lie to him!?" Adrienne exclaimed, her head slamming into her arms.

"I told you you should have asked him to work from here, with me. He might have agreed and then you COULD call him," Sam scolded, Adrienne's head darting up and over to glare.

"I'm gonna call him anyway, he's gonna die Sam, jus die!" Adrienne said as she looked back over their notes, the discovery just too good to be true.

The system was intact and had survived when they thought it hadn't, and better yet, it was adaptable.

This was even better than her love note with candy bar she'd laid on his pillow, her peace offering were she to get caught.

"Well, can we at least wait until we finish?" the scientist teased as she watched her friend's dark eyes jet along the screen at a manic rate. The Cajun didn't answer at first, back and forth, back and forth, her eyes her hands, the woman clearly not suffering from her headache any longer. Times like this Sam couldn't help but smile; Adrienne was so perfect for Daniel, so much so she wondered if the two of them even slept at night or if they just rambled on and on with one another about the things that they had learned each day.

Honestly, it was probably the latter.

"Sam!" Adrienne interrupted her actions with words only, her eyes still at her tablet, continuing to race back and forth, "I've got the BEST idea."

Curious, the former general walked over behind Adrienne, peering over her shoulder at the image on the screen.

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"Here Jack this should help," Jennifer said as she slid the needle carefully into his arm, her patient nodding in reply.

"God bless the little fella; I knew he wouldn't let me down. Last time I take out that communicator, no matter how annoying the damn thing is," Jack mumbled through gritted teeth, Jennifer nodding with a smile.

"It was very sweet. He came racing right in, told us his Uncle Jack was in pain, gave us an entire rundown like a little medical encyclopedia and that we needed to help. Carson was examining Teyla, so I came down," she explaining, recapping the needle and placing it back in her jacket, "it'll take a few minutes and I brought you a refill of your pain pills. You really shouldn't have let them run out, you were due a refill before you and Sam arrived."

"Thanks," Jack replied as he took the bottle from her hand, setting it over on the nightstand, "where's the munchkin now?" he asked, noting that the boy was not standing behind being nosey like he normally would.

"Oh, he was talking to Carson and Teyla when I left. They're trying the first embryo transfer today; I think he's excited."

Jack nodded, thoughtfully, taking a deep breath at another tinge of pain. Little booger was adorable and he could only imagine him driving poor Carson crazy with a barrage of questions about his possible new brother or sister.

"Alright, well, tell him to stay put, I'll be there as soon as this kicks in," Jack said as he lay back on the bed, taking a breath and letting the effects of the medicine take over wondering himself what the next Jackson child would be like.

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His mom had talked to him about things like this, boundaries, privacy, so even though he was disappointed that he couldn't stay he understood why. It was gonna be his baby brother or sister after all, but he'd just have to bug his mom for the details later or look them up on the computer. He'd already discovered that Teyla should be pregnant longer than a human, that Athosians took ten or more months, up to forty four weeks, but he himself had been ready at thirty six so maybe he wouldn't have to wait that long.

Would it be another boy?

A girl?

Would it look like Mom or Dad?

When would they know if it took?

Curious, wanting to talk this out with the one adult that seemed to be the most open with him, Nicholas started to head back to Jack's room where his dad had walked him after picking him up from his Aunt Vala this morning, but he felt bad. He'd looked up a stroke on his computer and he knew it was not an easy thing to recover from, in fact, his Uncle Jack was pretty awesome for getting around as well as he was. And after all of that he STILL wanted to spend free time with Nicky and teach him cool things.

He was the best uncle ever.

The boy knew it would take a bit for the medication to kick in and he wanted more than anything to learn how to fish, something he had only seen in movies his mom had played for him. It was also something that would mean a lot to Jack, Nicholas knew, his own father having told him about Charlie.

Today just HAD to work out.

The problem was that by the time the medicine would work, his assigned caretaker would still have to get ready, find a place, set up and by that time his Dad would be picking him up for dinner.

Dad insisted on the family meal every day, which Nicholas understood but limited the amount of time he would get to spend with his faux uncle today.

So, if he and Jack wanted to fish, he was just gonna have to take matters into his own hands...

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Jennifer had left and Nicky hadn't come back.

The doctor ordered Jack to take it easy for the day and he had every intention of doing so, cueing up some Simpsons episodes and planning on teaching Nicky the fine art of animated satire but the boy didn't come back.

For almost an hour.

That was way too long, there was no way that Carson let mini-Daniel yammer on and on about test tube babies for an hour, and if he had, Jack was reasonably sure his cuteness was the only thing keeping him from being thrown out of the room. He debated calling down to the infirmary, but then again Jennifer said they were doing the implanting procedure on Teyla and knowing the Jackson nerd spawn, he had probably worked his way into observing, well, something, or had attached his pudgy little hands to a computer.

Standing from the bed, his painkillers working their magic, Jack shoved his communicator into his ear, on a mission to retrieve Nicky from driving anyone crazy.

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"Are you all complete MORONS!" Rodney was shouting at his staff, his voice and words making Nicholas cringe. His mom and dad never talked to people like that and they seemed to get their work done just fine. He didn't want to ask, to interrupt, but Jack needed him to make this all work so Nicholas wouldn't have to go back and sit in his parents' offices day in and day out. Taking a deep breath he stepped forward, nearly getting slammed into by a young Swiss scientist.

"I'm sorry little one," the man said, looking down his face quickly turning to confusion, "wait, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to Dr. McKay and see if he could help me with a question that I have..." Nicholas tried to remember every lesson his mom had taught him on politeness even as the person he wanted to speak with was raging in the exact opposite fashion.

Straightening, the young man gazed down at him in confusion, tucking his tablet under his arm.

"You're Dr. Jackson's son, aren't you?" he began as Rodney continued to rage from the other side of the room, "what's your question? Maybe I can help you?" he asked as he lowered himself down to Nicholas' level.

It worked!

All he had to do was ask nicely and it worked, just like his mom had said!

Smiling, Nicholas opened his mouth to explain when that nasal voice began to boom from the other side of the large lab, not very polite in the least. He needed to act fast before Dr. McKay messed this all up.

"I wanted to know more about the aquatic life here on-"

"Dr. Bosse, are you just making these numbers up, or did you decide to take your own steps in the procedure!"

The man was standing upright again frowning, Rodney continuing to scream at his subordinate.

"There is NOTHING about this that makes any sense, get over here!"

"Sorry little guy, it's a nightmare here today. Maybe get your dad to bring you down later?"

And he was gone, nearly running across the lab leaving little Nicholas Jackson standing alone at doorway to the main science lab.

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"What do you mean he's not here?" Jack was livid as Carson stood in front of him, shrugging, having not seen the boy in a good long while.

"I told you, I showed him a few things and when it was time to do the procedure on Teyla, he said he was going back to you," the doctor defended, Jennifer reaching for her communication device.

"We should call Daniel," she suggested, Jack's brown eyes cutting into her with ferocity.

"No! No one is calling Daniel, he doesn't need to know just yet that Carson lost his kid!"

"I didn't LOSE NICHOLAS!" Carson started to shout back, Jennifer's hand going back and forth between the air and her ear as if she were unsure what to do.

"Well how else do you explain it?!" Jack continued to scream, Carson taking a deep breath before continuing.

"He left, right out of those doors the moment I went in with Teyla who is right in the other room trying to rest!" the doctors hissed, Jack hunting around for a clock.

"And how long ago was that?"

"About an hour.."

"An hour!?"

"He said he was going straight back to your quarters!"

"He's a BABY!"

"YOU sent him here alone in the first place!"

"It was an EMERGENCY!"

"I REALLY think we should call Daniel or Addy..."

"NO!" the men said in unison at Jennifer this time, Jack breathing out.

"Ok," the general began, "I'm going to go, try to figure out where he might have gone. You two stay here, look out for him and DON'T call Daniel. Are we clear?"

Jennifer paused, unsure as to what she should do, Carson peering over at her nodding. Truth was that Daniel didn't get angry at too many things, he had a temper sure, but to completely go crazy...

THAT he did over his family.

It was best to let Jack figure this mess out.

Not a word in argument, Jack set back out to find his charge.

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"I think it needs a visual representation," Adrienne declared from over Sam's shoulder, her friend peering over at her.

"Really? I was just thinking of installing it into the main relay stations, more of a system wide program," Sam said confused. They'd found it and it was going to be very easy to convert as long as Adrienne didn't get a headache from the tedious translation but she wasn't sure why they needed a visual.

Every other time there was a visual didn't seem to work out in their favor.

"Well, I was thinking more for educational purposes, like a cyber-professor," Adrienne tried to explain, Sam frowning at her poor word choice.

"So we need something to talk to us?" Sam asked, pointing back at the screen as though Adrienne was completely insane.

"No," Adrienne shook her head, dashing to the bed to get her personal computer, "I have this video clip, I know what you're worried about, but my idea is so much better. Let me show you..."

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Jack wasn't sure why, but he felt if Nicky would be anywhere, it would be in the science wing. The kid seemed to have a knack for numbers and such, not as interested in history as were his parents.

The wing was buzzing with activity, Jack vaguely remembering Sam talking to him the other night about Rodney trying to connect to the core of the planet like they had on Lantea, but other than Jack understanding it was volcano power, he had just smiled and humored her. People in those drab grey wool uniforms were darting around, some also wearing lab coats, a scene so chaotic that he had no idea how in the world he was gonna find the boy.

Sighing, Jack knew where he needed to ask, Nicky was smart enough and assertive enough to go to the top, unfortunately, walking straight for Rodney McKay's lab hearing the man's shouts before he made it to the door.

"RODNEY!" the general didn't bother with pleasantries, waving from the back, the scientist storming around the room ranting and raving.

"RODNEY!" Jack repeated, the ranting only stopping long enough to garner a glare in his direction.

"What!?" McKay spat as he came to a halt, throwing his hands into the air.

_Control Jack, don't go bananas despite the overwhelming desire to do so..._

"Have you seen Nicky?" Jack was yelling as he walked since Rodney didn't seem to be headed his direction, just standing there with that smug look on his face.

"Who?" he wasn't making eye contact as he passed a folder over to a lackey in a lab coat, reading a slew of numbers on the screen behind him.

"Nicholas Jackson, about two feet tall, creepy smart, not much hair, light brown eyes.."

"Why in the world would he be here?" Rodney asked, finally looking back at him again, Jack shaking his head.

"I don't know why he'd be here but he's geeky so I went where I would find geeks," he replied, Rodney's face ready for more ranting.

"Again, I repeat, why would a ten month old child, no matter how smart he is, be wandering around my lab?"

Jack just shrugged.

_Because that little munchkin is about a thousand times smarter than you are even though I am sure he came down here to ask you something intelligent that he is looking for. _

"Well, he's not here and, wait," Rodney's eyes widened, "you lost Nicholas? Daniel's gonna flip out..."

..._ and the boy's a hell of a lot nicer..._

"I didn't lose Nicholas, Carson did," the general shot back.

"I saw him," another man stepped forward, Jack ignoring Rodney's additional smart remarks regarding what was to become of Jack once Daniel found out about this development.

"You did?" Jack stepped away from Rodney to the young man, a Swiss flag on the shoulder of his woolen jacket.

"Yeah, he came down here, very politely, said he wanted to ask me a question about aquatic life but I was called away. Told him to have Dr. Jackson bring him down later and I'd be happy to help," he explained, Jack looking back over at Rodney.

"Aquatic life, dammit, he's looking for fish," Jack mumbled, knowing exactly what was on the boy's mind, "ok who's the bio nerd around here?" he questioned, Rodney crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"Radek, he's switched to biology and we really don't have the-" Rodney sneered, Jack dashing out before he could even finish.

"There's no zoology department yet, but fine, dash off to go play with Radek's flowers," Rodney finished to Dr. Bosse, who seemed concerned.

"Sir, do you think we might want to alert Dr. Jackson?" he inquired, Rodney walking back to where he was, seemingly ignoring the question.

"Unless Dr. Jackson is going to rerun those trials for you, then, no," Rodney hissed, ignoring as well the look of unease on the young scientist's face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Daniel wrapped up things in storage, the supplies Sam and Jack brought replacing the stores well. He was meeting with the head of supply, the now Colonel Reed, who had returned with the expedition. Fortunately, everything seemed to be in order and with the progress being made in botany, this was more than enough food for a while between this, the Asgard replication machines and the garden. All in all, he couldn't be more pleased with his stops so far this morning.

Glancing at his watch, his stomach telling him that he needed to eat, Daniel noted that it was indeed lunch time. He hadn't talked to any member of his family all day, part of the job he really wasn't liking, so he decided at the very least he could radio everyone, see what they were doing, maybe get some lunch together. Family meal rule or not, he just didn't want to wait until dinner to see them.

"Ja-wer?" he tried Adrienne first, missing her voice, making a mental note to work from her lab tomorrow since he was just doing paperwork.

"Ad?" he repeated, but not getting an answer. She must have fallen asleep, which while he was disappointed, he was very happy that she was getting some rest. Tapping the open line button, he decided to try the rest of his little family.

"Jack?"

No answer again. Alright, advanced brain or not, the boy did need sleep, and maybe Jack was laying down with him, watching a movie or something, in fact they could both use some rest.

That would actually be cute.

"Jack?" he decided to try one more time, waiting just outside the main doors of supply for his answer just in case Jack was awake and hadn't heard him.

Again, there was silence.

Disappointed, Daniel let out a sigh, deciding to return to his office and have a Powerbar and coffee by himself.

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Dr. Kiang in Botany was very nice and had sent Nicholas to the gardens so he could find Dr. Zalenka who told him that he needed to see Dr. McNabb in Oceanography who told him that they were still working on the stability of the systems around the city before they started to try to examine the wildlife.

It seemed that his pseudo-uncle wasn't gonna get any fishing done today.

Nicholas was discouraged; he wanted to spend time with Jack, fishing was very important to him, but his small stomach was rumbling. Looking over at the clock on the wall he saw that it was lunchtime and he was starving.

Thinking he could get one of the mixed shakes like his mom made for him in the commissary, thereby not alerting his father or his mother to his whereabouts, Nicky left the biology section of the science wing, letting his grumbling tummy guide him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

_Ignore it..._

Daniel's voice was buzzing in his ear, repeating him name over and over again, saying something about bringing Nicky to meet him for lunch.

Well, that wasn't gonna happen because at this point Jack had scoured the entire science wing, including the botany departments, the gardens and the one lone oceanographer who seemed to be quite annoyed to have been bothered twice today, once by a ten month old wonder-child no less.

"Ok, so the little guy isn't in the nerd wing, not in the infirmary..."Jack calculated out loud, his stomach answering for him.

"The mess!" and he was off, hoping he and Nicholas were on the same wavelength as he continued to ignore Daniel's voice echoing through his head.

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"At this point I'm only going along with this to see Daniel's face," Sam was laughing as Adrienne stood at the main switch board in their room, hoping her husband wasn't noticing any mainframe changes from where ever he was.

"Shug, I LIVE for seein' Daniel's face in moments like dis!" the Cajun replied, her accent slipping as she grinned brightly. Sitting back down at the desk, Sam made a few adjustments when there was a voice at her ear, Daniel's, seeking her location.

"Uh oh," she said, Adrienne peering over her shoulder at her.

"Uh oh wha?" Adrienne didn't like that look nor the voice that went with it.

"Uh oh Daniel is looking for me," Sam replied.

"LIE TO HIM," Adrienne spat quickly, Sam shaking her head.

"And say what?"

"Anything but I am in your room working on insane shit with your wife!" the Cajun hissed back, throwing her hands into the air.

"Adrienne, I can't lie to him," Sam argued back, his voice again in her ear, more insistent, saying that he couldn't find Jack and was just checking to see if her husband and the boy were taking a nap. They probably were, Jack had called to tell her about the new arrangement and how today he planned on mapping out a schedule and maybe showing the boy how to fish.

"Then don't," Adrienne reasoned, an idea popping into her head, "tell him you're here and I called you and I can't sleep and we're just chatting. THAT'S not a lie."

Not technically, Sam thought, sighing out.

"Hey Daniel," Sam tapped her ear, blue eyes darting over at Adrienne, "yeah, I have. She called me a while ago, can't sleep, so we've been chatting. No. No we haven't seen Jack or Nicholas; I'd check anywhere there are fish. I will. Bye."

"Everything ok?" Adrienne was already frowning, Sam shrugging her shoulders.

"He was worried, about you, Nicholas..." Sam started, Adrienne halting her typing and standing at the mention of her son's name.

"What about Nicholas?"

"Nothing. Daniel hasn't heard from him or Jack, but honestly Jack has probably found a pier and is showing your son how to fish, that's been his plan since we set foot in the city," Sam's response was so confident, so sure, Adrienne was relieved, an image of her small son sitting in Jack's lap, decorated pole in hand, popping into her head. She had to admit, she really liked Daniel's idea, with both of their parent's dead having a role model like Jack was exactly what her son needed in his life, the extended family that he was missing.

"Alright, so can you take a look at this then; you have much more experience in this area," Adrienne refocused, her fingers tapping lightly at the screen again.

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Nicholas was pretty sure that the nice woman behind the serving counter hadn't given him what he requested, the drink sitting between his legs instead a strawberry milkshake, but he wasn't one to complain. After all, his mother had taught him to have the upmost respect for his elders and that no one liked it when you pointed out mistakes that should not have been made.

Especially when a mistake tasted this good.

He hadn't found one person on this base so far that had any idea about any kind of fishing or where one could even find fish. Either they were all too busy or too aloof to notice his presence. So here he was, enjoying a sugar paradise that his dad would have died for, wondering what he should do.

The medicine probably would have taken effect, and judging by the time on the digital read out on the wall it was far too late to go fishing even if he knew a place to fish. Besides that, his uncle probably would still be too weak to do much of anything and Nicholas knew that if today didn't go well it was back to occupying himself in his mom's lab.

THAT didn't need to happen.

Mom was cool, but it was only so exciting to watch her work, really it was only mildly entertaining when she began to swear in Cajun, Nicholas making sure to jot those words down in his language notebook.

They were just good to know.

Deciding that Jack was probably in the room, resting, waiting for Nicky to return, the young boy made a decision, standing and tossing the cup onto the dish tray, toddling out of the cafeteria.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Yeah, I made him a milkshake."

Of course the little guy would come here, he was after all Daniel's child as much as he was Adrienne's and hunger was not something Daniel Jackson would ever ignore.

"Alright, so you made him a milkshake, then where did he go?" Jack now questioned, wondering why in the world he seemed to be the only person in this entire city that thought there was something wrong with a baby wandering around. Daniel, of course, would have minded, but at this point he still didn't want his old friend to know what happened, that his only child was MIA and it was really Jack's fault.

"He sat at the table where his family usually sits. I didn't realize that he was gone until you arrived," she explained, Jack shaking his head.

"Do you have any idea when that was?" he asked, the woman's face pulled into a grimace as she shrugged.

"Sir, would you like me to call down Dr. Jackson, I'm sure he - "

"No," Jack put a stop to that quickly, "no one calls Dr. Jackson. Clear?"

The woman nodded as Jack set out again, starting to debate calling Daniel himself.

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Torrin hadn't been exaggerating.

Nicholas hadn't had the time to come down here yet, well, more like Adrienne and Daniel hadn't had the time to bring him just yet, but standing here it was like the prize at the bottom of the cereal box.

Or so he heard.

The screen on the back wall was of the same quality as the view screen on the bridge and gateroom, the characters dancing across it appearing to be real rather than two dimensional. He didn't know the young man and woman using the console at the time, but they were just as engrossed as he was, watching the two knights power down at one another on the screen.

He had to get his hands on that game, or one game, some game, it was just too awesome not to. Soft brown eyes danced around the room, calculating, looking, trying to figure out how and where to start when there was a slam at his back making him cascade into the floor.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

He was, really, his only pain a throb in his small knee through tiny jeans.

"I'm ok..."

There were arms at his shoulders, under them, lifting him to his feet, a collection of confused faces all staring down at him.

"Who is that?"

"He's so little."

"Did he just talk? Was he walking?"

"That's Dr. Jackson's son; you knocked over his kid. Consider yourself OUT of here."

"It was an accident, why's he wandering around?"

"Doesn't he stay with his mother?"

"Hey buddy, where are you supposed to be?"

"We should call his dad, should we?"

"I'm not calling Dr. Jackson, he likes me and I wanna keep it that way."

"But if we don't call Dr. Jackson he might send us all back to Earth!"

"Or to work with McKay. I prefer greasing things up with Dex ANY day!"

Not wanting his dad called, at least not until Nicholas found something to make his Uncle Jack feel better, the boy slipped back around the corner, his tiny feet slapping the corridor tiles.

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"Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel looked up from his desk, Davidson peering through the door, an expression of bewilderment on his face.

"What's up?"

"Sir, there's a jam in the communication system," the young man replied, Daniel setting down his pen in concern. And to think, the day had been going so smoothly...

"What kind of jam?"

"Too many messages all coming to one person, and the system is crashing, reading it as a routing error..." Davidson explained, walking a tablet over to Daniel.

"Too many messages? To who? About what?" Daniel was reading the screen, ok, looking at this screen, analyzing anything computer related was more his wife's territory.

"They're all coming to you sir," the young man replied, taking a breath, "Apparently sir, Nicholas is, well, exploring the city. Alone."

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According to the collective of twenty somethings in the game room, once again he had just missed Nicky. He had to give himself credit for at least anticipating the little booger's moves, glad that despite his crazy advanced brained and rapidly changing physique that Nicholas Jackson was still a child at heart, video games and all.

Yet with the science wing out of the question, the commissary and now the game room, Jack was not only at a loss as to where else to look but was growing slightly worried, fears of the boy having fallen down into the waters...

It was time to call Daniel.

Taking a breath in, slowly, carefully, Jack stepped aside into a corridor, tapping the communicator at his ear.

"Hey Daniel," he tried to sound as chipper as possible, silence on the other end.

"Oh Danny boy, we've gotta talk..."

"Jack..." Daniel answered instantly, the general trying to decipher his mood in his voice.

"Yeah, hey, where are you?" he started simply, Daniel puttering around on the other end he could tell.

"Did Nicky sleep well?" the city commander replied. Right to the boy, of course, not that Jack could blame him and he felt awful that he was going to have to tell him...

"Or did he sleep at all? Because now that the communication system is back online, I'm hearing about all sorts of adventures that my son is getting into. Alone."

_Shit..._

"Daniel, listen, let me explain, I sent him to get Jennifer, that's it, he was supposed to come right back..."

"I have him," Jack heard, making him trail, a voice not Daniel's on the other end.

"Wait? How did you find him?" the general stammered.

"Our DNA signature Jack, same as beaming," Daniel answered quickly before talking to the interrupting third party, "Where is he Davidson?"

"Main living suites. O'Neill quarters."

Jack was running, the best he could, in the direction of his quarters before Daniel could say anything further.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX*

The old general stood there, gazing down at his bed, the tiny body in toddler jeans and a t-shirt curled up on top of the covers.

Little shit was cute when he was asleep.

"He naps after lunch, that's the only one we can get him to take anymore," Daniel was behind him suddenly, Jack peering back with a grimace on his face.

"I told him to come right back," he defended before his friend could scream, Daniel already shaking his head.

"He listens about as well as Adrienne just so you know."

"I don't think I'm the person to be watching him though Daniel," Jack began honestly, his eyes on the bottles of pills the doctor had brought down earlier, "I'm not at full power."

"No you're fine. Welcome to parenting Nicky. It's not that he takes advantage, he just gets in a zone..."

"Like you and Dr. Perky?" Jack interjected.

Daniel frowned.

"Yes, like me and Ad. He must have thought whatever he was doing would help you or something. But he's back now and I'll have a talk with him when he wakes up. Let him sleep at least an hour," Daniel continued, Jack furrowing his face.

"You're not mad, that worries me," he said as Daniel shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Nope, I'm livid and it's taking everything in my power not to scream and yell and go ballistic because the only thing I love in this world more than my wife could have gotten seriously hurt. But it's not your fault, it's not really anyone's fault, it's just the way things seem to go," the commander replied, eerily calm.

Jack sighed.

He was right; it was par for the course around here.

"Oh Indy..." Jack heard Adrienne's voice in Daniel's ear, answering the other question that Jack had: Did Daniel tell his wife about this little incident?

Her voice was happy, so, apparently not, Jack listening in to see why she was so damn chipper.

"Hey Ad, you feeling better?" Daniel replied, holding a finger to Jack.

Yep, he didn't tell her.

"I'm feeling great. Are you at your desk? I sent out a memo, I need everyone in the briefing room by five," she was so loud that Jack could hear her, Daniel giving him a frown that the general was certain was intended for his wife.

"Ja-wer, if you were sleeping all day, when did you have time to send a memo or prep a briefing?"

"I love you!" and Jack could tell by the look on his face that she had ended the transmission, Daniel rubbing his temples.

"See, listens just about as well as Adrienne," he said as he started for the door, "he ok?"

"Yeah," Jack replied, looking over at the TV and his crate of movies, "I'll put something fun on for him when he gets up, hang out with him until you guys are ready."

"Thanks, and let me know when he wakes up. We need to have a father son talk," Daniel said and was at the door leaving, Jack slightly dumbfounded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX*

He was frowning as Adrienne and Sam set up the presentation, just slightly annoyed that she hadn't been resting after all. The woman worked too damn hard, but then again, that was what made him start to fall for her in the first place. She was smiling so he decided not to mention their son's little adventure until later, that might put a damper on whatever she wanted to present to him.

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming despite the hour," his wife began, Daniel chuckling at her words. Always Southern and polite, because in his career at the SGC at meeting called at five in the evening was still considered normal; eating dinner at a normal time considered a gift.

Taking his seat at the head of the table, Daniel scanned the room at his senior staff, Vala and Ronon even showing up which was strange considering Adrienne's all call asked for more academic members of senior staff, not security and intelligence.

"I know that we're still in the process of exploring the base, resuming the functional levels that we were at prior to the return to Earth, but I think that we can all agree that sometimes we're just at a loss. Not only for the more complex challenges that we face every day but for simple things, like where can we find the location of something on base. Thanks to Rodney, we have access to the electronic manual, but that is still a rather extensive volume and some staff members are a little too intimidated to tackle it," Adrienne made sure to look over at Rodney so that he understood she did appreciate the manual access being made public, even though Daniel was still a little more than peeved that Rodney had kept this secret to himself for six weeks.

"In addition," the slide flashed, Daniel recognizing the room, one he hadn't bothered to stop by since they had arrived. He had found answers in that room, answers he hadn't really wanted to hear from someone that was not who she seemed...

"We have children on this base and will be having more soon," he saw her smile, at Teyla and then at him, making his heart skip a beat, "and we will have the need in the future to educate them."

Daniel was now completely confused; what was she talking about?

Did Adrienne want to add school teacher to her already growing list of responsibilities?

"So, without further ado, Dr. O'Neill and I would like to present to you the Digital Ancient Technical Archive or DATA for short," Adrienne said with a smile and her usual flair, tapping a few buttons on the main panel. There was the familiar hum of tech firing up, the hologram program, and suddenly standing before him was...

...a Star Trek character.

Daniel was pretty sure that he visibly face-palmed.

"I had to let her do it, it's funny, and not Rodney," Sam was leaning back to whisper to him, Daniel shaking his head.

"Greeting inhabitants of Atlantis, I am DATA and here to assist you in any way that you may require."

"Dear God she downloaded the voice..." he said before he could control himself, earning himself the Cajun glare.

"DATA, once complete, will be accessible at every computer terminal with a full educational version to be installed in the former classroom facilities," she added, motioning for Sam to join her.

"I'd like to turn to floor over to Sam for the next part of our presentation..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"I should be mad at you," Adrienne said as she placed the book in her lap, watching him strip off his uniform, tossing the jacket over the back of the chair.

"And I'm the only guilty party? Who was supposed to be in bed but decided to reprogram part of the system mainframe and create an entire new project for herself?" he shot back as he unzipped his pants, watching her blush at his accusation.

"He lost our son," she pointed out, carefully.

"Yes, and we have had a stern conversation regarding this..." Daniel defended, pulling back the covers and slipping in beside her, shutting off the lamp as he did, "with both of them. Nicholas isn't innocent here; he's smart enough to know better."

"I was reading," Adrienne grumbled.

"No you were just waiting to yell at me," he replied, grabbing her book from her lap and tossing it to the desk, feeling her elbow him in the side.

"He could have gotten hurt," she was still muttering, the bed shaking as she moved away.

"We have the entire city shielded now with Todd out there and our son is not stupid," Daniel said as he pulled up the blankets, "He just does stupid things. Like his mother."

"Definitely no cuddles for you tonight."

"I don't think so," he argued, rolling over and reaching out to pull her to him. She didn't fight; she never really did, even though she could launch him from the bed. Laughing, Adrienne let him wrap his arms around her waist, holding her tightly to him, his lips at her ear.

"Carson did the first implantation today," he whispered, Adrienne nodding her head.

"I know. I'm trying not to get my hopes up," she murmured softly in reply.

"If it rejects, he was able to create a decent amount of viable embryos. Apparently we make good babies together," he said, a light kiss at her head as she chuckled before sucking in air.

"Daniel," that uncertain voice, one that she only had with him, the only person in her life to whom she had ever shown any sign of weakness.

"What ja-wer?"

"Do you think Todd is a threat? That he'll come back?"

He paused for a moment, reading the tension in her words. She was scared and rightfully so. In that fleeting moment facing a Wraith that for some reason didn't kill her realizing that her training wasn't enough, that while Anubis may have been a threat, he was a solitary one that had to raise his own forces.

The Wraith were just that, the Wraith, a collective of the most horrible creatures in galaxy, possibly the universe.

"If he does, we'll be ready for him," Daniel assured her the best the he could, Adrienne rolling over as she swore she wouldn't be doing tonight, burying herself into his body.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

There really was no good way to approach a hive ship. Granted they had no shields, but it was the thick organic hull that prevented any kind of surprise landing from occurring. Fear was an emotion that he had learned from the humans, and as he approached the vessel it was that very disgusting feeling that he was feeling.

Knowing where the darts would land, Todd eased the ship into the first bay he saw available. Like a true hive ship, there was no crew to greet them, not one creature to acknowledge him as he docked his vessel.

He was alone and he would be alone until they found him.

Nerves, yet another result of being with humans too long, rocketed through his core, Todd shutting off the ship quietly, thankful for the combined DNA that let him operate it in the first place. He sat in the pilot's chair, calming himself, standing only when his heart was finally at rest.

Walking slower than he would have normally, Todd approached the back hatch of the jumper, slamming his palm against the inside activate to open the door, the slab of metal rising ever so slowly.

"We've been waiting..."

There, standing in front of him was the man from his dreams, his black eyes staring right through him.

He hadn't been left to dock alone after all.


	4. Chapter 4 - Reflections

_There were some little moments that never made it into Surprise Package so I created this story. It is very sappy, reflective, but moves our storyline forward. I haven't said this to you guys in a while, but remember my details warnings in Surprise Package. If you haven't noted the little things, now's the time to start. _

_xo_

_Thanks again for your support and general awesomeness! _

_P.S. Neither the copy/paste function NOR the upload behaved with my special text for the flashbacks, but they ARE Daniel daydreams and flashbacks, ID'd the best I could without disrupting story flow. Enjoy!_

If there was ever a better reason to get the gate bridge going it was the discomfort that he was experiencing right now. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with Colonel Young's body, but he would just prefer his own especially when he had to actually concentrate on important things to be said, things like what he needed to go over right now.

Sitting in the cold dank communications room of the Destiny, if you could call it that, Daniel waited patiently for Dr. Nicholas Rush to join him. The scientist claimed that he needed to confer with some experts Cam was bringing in from Area 51 on something in the ship's control panel, something that was troubling him but that he wouldn't give Daniel any details concerning. The man was taking his time getting here though, Daniel growing more and more frustrated, his mind already wandering through his to do list for today...

Meet with General Telford to give him a brief status report and mention the additions to his staff.

Check in with TJ concerning the still touch and go status of Chloe Armstrong and see how she herself was doing, maybe even try to judge the emotional status of the rest of the crew.

Confer with Rodney on the central energy systems, which were working fine, but for some reason needed to be upgraded, according to him at least.

Attend a brief demonstration by Adrienne and Sam concerning the next phase in the DATA project; getting the Asgard knowledge uploaded to the main Atlantis informational system. That was the agenda item that he was happiest about; he felt like he never saw her any more.

Walk the perimeter with Ronon to discuss adding safety features to keep small children from toppling over the edge into the water, thanks to Nicholas' little adventure. He and Jack had finally made it fishing, in fact, Jack even got the little guy a pole. The retired general had created a bit of a monster, a monster who now had dragged fellow fishing addict Dr. Carson Beckett into the mix.

Stop by Teyla's room to see how she was feeling, the first embryo not taking, unfortunately. They had been assured that this was normal, and both of the doctors had Teyla resting and recuperating for the second attempt next week.

And somewhere in that, eat, and not a Powerbar, because Adrienne was right.

You really couldn't live off of those things.

Sitting at the million year old dusty table Daniel tried to remember the lessons Teal'c had taught him on meditation so long ago, breath in slowly, breath out, focus on nothing, or at the very least something calm and soothing.

_Think positive thoughts, thoughts that'll ensure you don't explode at this asshole you encouraged the SGC to hire..._

_"I found it..." he couldn't miss her smile as she crossed the room, that smile of hers always making the worries of the day melt away, worries that had taken over his entire existence since they touched down on Atlantica._

"Found what?" he played stupid, he'd hoped she'd find it sooner, but her expression at this very moment made it all worth the wait.

"Your little joke...on my desk..." she was giggling as she crawled into bed with him, the first night in a long time that he had turned in before his wife. She was still laughing, her hands now clasped behind her back as she wriggled into his lap, scooting carefully on her knees.

Daniel couldn't help but smile.

"Well you said it made sense if we all had one," he joked, reaching out for her, pulling her into his arms in an attempt to steal away the object in question, Adrienne throwing it over her head.

"No ma'am," he joked, tackling her, pinning her, kissing passionately down her neck, "I'm not gonna let you make me look out of shape because I'm stuck behind a desk all day..:"

She laughed, relenting, hissing in as he moved his lips so softly down to her collarbone, his hand reaching lightly up her shirt.

"I can't believe that you did it, or that you knew what to make," she was trying to talk, arching her back underneath of his body submitting to affection as always.

"It's just a starship, kinda looks like the Daedalus, the damn machine could at least whip that up. As for the name, I found the Sharpie in your desk," he pushed back from her only enough to answer, his wife bringing the small toy into view between them.

"The Adrienne Rowan," she declared with a sly smile, biting her lip.

"The Adrienne Jackson;" he corrected quickly, making a face of disapproval, "did you read it?"

"Yes, I read it, I just like messing with you," she answered, running her finger along his jagged script.

"Did I do well? I got you a starship..." and he must have as she was kissing him again, the gag gift tossed aside, her hands at his waist, moving downward...

"Sorry to keep you waiting," and Dr. Rush was seated in front of him, Daniel snapping back to reality.

_Because of course he shows up at that part of the memory..._

"It's alright, just running my to do list through my head," he lied, part of his mind still wondering where that space ship had gone to after it had, like their clothes, been discarded to the floor.

"Dr. Rush," the body started, Daniel realizing in his daydreams that he had missed Rush sitting down and switching to Telford without so much as a hello, "is still meeting with some of our experts on Earth so we have plenty of time."

Sighing, Daniel started his first report to General Telford, in which he was going to have to go over, yet again, how a Wraith that had been contained for years escaped him in a little over a month.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Surprisingly, Telford hadn't been angry; in fact it seemed that Todd's escape once Atlantis had returned to the Pegasus Galaxy was expected. Daniel had asked why in the world no one thought to put a homing beacon on the creature, but it seemed the powers that be that knew of Todd's existence, even more people than Sam had known about, thought that would bring the wrath of any Wraith that he would find down upon the base. It took everything in Daniel's power to resist the urge to point out that landing the city in the exact same place that it had been attacked, a city accompanied by TWO Asgard starships, was a pretty huge 'We're back!' to the Wraith as well, but no one would listen. Daniel just needed to be thankful that he hadn't gotten himself an IOA liaison on base and that Cam was having to deal with that instead.

He only hoped his old buddy was getting in some good running time to make up for the added stress.

The meeting ended, much to Daniel's surprise to be honest, with the archaeologist being lauded for his work on the base so far. There were also commendations to be sent to both Sam and Adrienne on their new system and their repair of the existing hologram network. Rodney McKay was also going to get a bit of good news; he would be getting five more engineers on the next supply run to help with his core project.

Joy, Daniel thought, I can't wait to hear his smart mouth when I tell him that one.

Atlantis' lead scientist and pain in the ass had been begging for an increase in staff despite the fact that Daniel wanted to expand their population slowly, and not until some major adjustments and repairs from their landing had been made, but it seemed yet again someone had overruled him. He just hoped the new recruits were as nice as Dr. Bosse, the kind Swedish scientist that always took the time for Nicholas, something Daniel appreciated more than anything else.

"Daniel?" and suddenly it was Nicholas Rush sitting before him, the commander pinching the bridge of the nose.

_Back to work..._

"Yeah, still me. If you don't have anything you need me for, I'd like to check on Chloe," he said as he stood, Rush in his own world he could tell. Technically Rush didn't need to answer to Daniel at all, Daniel was just a mission commander, but the archaeologist liked to know what was going on on the ship.

He'd just look around himself.

Not bothering to ask for a guide to the infirmary, he had checked on both Chloe and TJ in this past month more times than he could count to the point where he could navigate the ship in his sleep, Daniel shoved unfamiliar hands into pockets, walking his way swiftly down the hall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"LET ME GO!"

He heard her voice before he made it to the door of TJ's make-shift recovery area, the tortured echoes of a distressed Chloe Armstrong beating through the halls. That wasn't a good sign; when he had met with Carolyn last week on the Destiny she said there was no neurological damage that she could see using the resources on the ship and the young woman would just have to come out of it by herself.

This wasn't how she needed to "come out of it."

What they needed was a way to get the Destiny home, but at this time, other than being pointed in the right direction, there wasn't a lot more they could do to help.

Much to his surprise, tables and beds were at the ceiling, hovering precariously over TJ, Eli and Scott's heads as Chloe thrashed in her bed, shrieking, pulling frantically at her restraints.

If they had already restrained her she must have regained consciousness before now.

"CHLOE! Stop! It's me! Calm down!" Scott was trying to reason at her feet, when he himself was slammed back against the wall like some paranormal movie. Daniel had to do something, racking his brain to think of anything to knock her out safely, calm her down, stop whatever the hell was going on, when a thought popped into his head, the Atlantis commander racing to the back of the sick bay.

"Quick, grab a blanket!" he shouted at the bystanders, running over to a pile of linens on a side table, linens so filthy and dusty that they probably should never be used in a medical facility. Ripping the top cloth from the table, Daniel signaled that Scott join him, tossing the blanket into the air to open it and bringing it down on her, dodging a table as he moved.

"Wrap her up!" he ordered, Scott staring at him in utter confusion.

"What?"

"Eli, distract her while we wrap her up!" Daniel repeated, clarified really, needing all hands on deck as he remembered Scott flying back against the wall. The men did as they were told, TJ racing to help as well. With Chloe too overwhelmed to focus her energies on one person, her head darting side to side as she screamed, Scott and Daniel wrapped the woman quickly. TJ on one side, Scott that the other, they scooted away to allow Daniel reach underneath, wrapping the blanket behind her back. She thrashed a while longer, before her breathing changed, a panicked pant until she finally lay back staring at the ceiling, tables crashing down all around her.

"Sedate her," Daniel ordered, TJ doing as asked, kicking the furniture out of her way the best she could. With his borrowed eyes he directed the men to follow him to the hallway, seeing out of the corner of his gaze that the young woman was thankfully calm.

"How'd you do that?" Eli asked in amazement, Daniel shaking his head.

"I'm a parent, of a formerly fussy child. Swaddling works on anyone," he replied, peering to make sure that Chloe was indeed subdued, "What was THAT?"

"That was her enhanced brain activity. We think it's more than just enhanced intelligence. We think the Nakai were able to activate parts of her brain that we as humans normally don't use," he explained, Daniel rubbing his hand under glasses that were not there.

Could this be any more of a disaster? The Destiny now seemed to have a telekinetic lunatic.

"How long has she been like this?" he now inquired, part of his mind already back home wanting Jennifer to research the infirmary systems for anything like this that she could find.

"Floating things? A few days, since she woke up really," Scott answered, Daniel shaking his head in disbelief.

"Why didn't anyone tell me? Or General Mitchell? Did anyone contact him? She's levitating TABLES..."

"Because I ordered them not too..." Rush replied from down the hall, Daniel glancing up to meet his glare, "we haven't had the chance to fully analyze this change to know whether or not it's temporary or a side effect that will go away on its own."

"Dr. Rush," Daniel started to argue right away, meditating, remaining calm, "The health status of this crew is to be reported immediately as per SGC protocol. Cameron needs to be made aware of any incidents of this magnitude."

"As it was, just now, to General Telford at my weekly report to him," he answered coolly. He had the urge to flip Rush the bird, damn Adrienne influences invading his thoughts. It wasn't only that but it was something Adrienne had once said to him slipping into his mind, something she had said back when they could barely stand to be in the same room...

She growled at him as she turned, Daniel so angry that he had already forgotten what they were arguing about in the first place. He looked up to apologize, things had been going so well since the little incident in the elevator, but she was halfway down the corridor, middle finger in the air behind her.

"That's for you to do to yourself, not a service I provide..."

The irony in that statement now...

He'd never asked her if that was an Adrienne-ism or something clever she picked up from Vala.

"Well, we have the resources of Atlantis at your disposal Dr. Rush, should you need them," Daniel offered as calmly as he was able, still planning on talking to Jennifer about what he had seen.

"We'll keep that in mind," Rush returned the cordiality, seemingly forced on his end as well, "Now if you please, I need to speak to Colonel Young as soon as possible."

Taking his cue Daniel stood, still unsettled by the scene he had witnessed, walking calmly to where he left the stone, getting ready to go from one bad situation to another...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Rodney was bearable, so much so that Daniel had to repeat three times that the scientist was going to get everything he asked for, but not until the next supply run. Regardless, McKay was delighted, polite, even thankful, tempting Daniel to call for a random drug screening.

The man had to be on something...

Or possessed...

That made much more sense than Rodney being nice.

"I've been with Adrienne too long," he muttered under his breath, remembering that she was the next thing on his list, meeting with her and Sam. Let Vala make fun of him until the end of time, he missed working with Adrienne every day and there were days when he was seriously considering making her his assistant again just so he could work with her on a regular basis. After all Lieutenant Richard Davidson was technically the head gate technician even though he kind of acted like Daniel's assistant, but Adrienne would kill him. When she had seen the lab for the first time, her very own lab, she was a kid in a candy store, dashing around excitedly, yammering on in Cajun, her hands all over everything. He could never take that away from her. It was a promotion that she deserved more than anyone else, the best reward he could give her for years of hard work and dedication to her career.

He just needed to clean out the smaller lab next door and work from there. That could work, it was just sitting there, unused, having before acted as some sort of Ancient storage and Adrienne wanted to start going through the contents anyway.

It just wasn't the same without her right there...

Indy?

The message bounced up on his screen, Daniel peeking up glad it was her.

He missed her so badly...

Yes…

Am I bothering you?

Yes… ;-)

She was and he didn't care.

Oh, sorry, I'll wait until ya get up here.

I'm just messing with you Ad. I can multi-task. What's up?

Nothing actually. I just can't sleep. Don't worry, I'm not obsessing, I just can't sleep. Too much excitement.

Well, I'm glad that you can't sleep. I want to actually spend some time with you that doesn't involve work, stress, drama, etc.

What are you working on?

Here it is, nearly one in the morning, Woolsey's removed Adrienne from my service part time but we're still talking like everything is alright.

I love her, so very much.

Just some more things from Atlantis. I can translate it, but I have no idea what it's talking about. Some astro-physics or something. Rodney swears it's a way to recharge ZPMs (I've been working with him too long – I almost typed ZED – P – M). Based on what I'm reading here I'm not so sure, but that's not my area of expertise. I can hope though; charged ZPMs would ship him back into the cosmos.

You're evil.

I'm honest. That man doesn't belong here but I feel guilty imposing him onto other civilized cultures.

I have no idea what Jennifer sees in him. She's just so kind and sweet.

I've wondered that myself but then again I'm not sure what you see in my old, workaholic, boring self.

You're not old. Or boring. Workaholic, yes, but so am I. And I refuse to get sappy on chat message.

Aww...why not?

He had to admit it, she made him feel like a teenager again, he wanted to cuddle with her, kiss her, hear stupid sappy things from here.

What in the hell had happened to him?

Stop fishing sha.

I figured it was worth a try. After getting told I'm just a "stupid historian" I needed a little ego boost.

I'll give you the eyes. You can melt me with just a glance. Always have been able to really. But that's it, nothing else sweet until ya get ya fool ass up 'ere ta bed.

I'll take what I can get. Five more pages, I swear. Might be done in 30 minutes if I stop being distracted.

Sorry.

No worries, would you prefer talking to me on here or in bed.

Shutting up...

Then, check back with me in 30 minutes or so, unless of course I'm already there. Ok?

Ok. I love you Daniel.

I love you.

Yeah, text chat wasn't the same, no matter how silly they used to be on Earth or still were here.

He was gonna look into that office.

"Ja-wer?" forget formality on the radio, he loved her and he was the boss and honestly didn't care who heard him call her 'my love' over the radio before she switched to private mode.

"Hey handsome, how was the Destiny?"

That would be what she asked about of course, especially given that she had been popping over there herself lately to meet with Eli as she and Sam continued to perfect the DATA project. He'd found out that what they had managed to create that day in their room was essentially a prototype and it was going to take months to perfect, especially given that she and Sam wanted to include both the information that they had gleaned from the Asgard database as well as anything Eli was starting to catalogue from the Destiny, which, given how they had to transfer that information was quite the undertaking.

The whole damn thing was quite the undertaking, since according to what she was telling him in bed every night they had to go back to the beginning to reconstruct the existing system installed by Rodney in, well, an accident so long ago.

Which is why he loved the hell out of that woman; she was relentless in the best possible way.

"Doing well, they were able to obtain water from a moon the ship could purify, but they are getting dangerously low on proteins. I might be sending Rodney or Dr. Bosse over to help them try to find the closet planet or at least mediate for when Rush and Young start to rip into each other about the next food mission," he replied honestly, the line secure he could tell from the tiny beep he had heard before she answered. It was good and he was thankful that he had her to talk to as well as John because he could get both the professional official opinion on a situation and a counter point from the one person he had grown to count on. As far as John was concerned, things had gotten better in that regard as well, Daniel understanding that John hadn't intended to put anyone in danger by setting Todd free.

Still didn't change the outcome, but he needed to think forward, not obsess over what ifs.

"Good ta 'ear, ya 'eadin ah way?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at her accent. She'd been working really late the past few days, no snuggles of any kind, saying goodnight to he and Nicky and heading back down to her lab. It seemed today the lack of sleep was showing in her speech.

"Yeah, just wanted to make sure you were ready," he answered, Adrienne muttering something about him being a coo yon and laughing at her overtired voice before he could call her a swamp rat, which he was about to.

"We ah, but can ya stop by ah quarters on da way? I need anutha vitamin wata."

He laughed, stopping in the hallway and removing his glasses, rubbing his anything, being a married commander of an alien city was humbling.

All of the power to control the galaxy and lead mankind into a great technological future.

Still has to bring the wife beverages on command.

"Anything my love," he replied smartly, Adrienne swearing at him in Cajun as he ended the transmission, heading for their room.

Maybe they had some Twinkies left too.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Daniel had just pulled a bottle of vitamin water from Adrienne's cold storage box, a box he was certain that the Ancients did not create for the purpose of storing drinks when he decided that he might as well get two just to be on the safe side. Reaching back down into her 'fridge' Daniel caught something purple out of the corner of his eye, kneeling down to see what it was.

"And yet I'm the disorganized mess," he joked, grabbing Adrienne's glasses from under the bed. He had no idea how they had gotten under there, he hadn't seen her wearing them in a long time, in fact she only seemed to wear them when she was working late at night, which she had been doing a lot of lately and not in the bedroom. She rarely wore them, in fact, he had known her for months before he even realized that she wore glasses.

That had been funny...

"What are those?" he couldn't help but ask as she slipped into his quarters, his assistant peering up at him over the frames. She paused for a moment, looking up from the folder she was reading, the folder that she had just texted him to drag him out of bed to read.

The damn woman worked too much.

No wonder she was starting to grow on him.

"What are what?" she inquired confused, Daniel tapping his own pair.

"My glasses?" she clarified as he nodded, standing from his small desk.

"The great and powerful Adrienne Rowan wears glasses?" he was trying to joke, he hoped she knew that, things had been so much better lately...

"What's so funny 'bout dat?" she spat making him almost face palm then and there. He could never talk to this woman, ever, even considering the leaps and bounds he had made in these past few weeks. Whatever had happened to her, in her past, she certainly was distant when it came to, well, him at least, and he wondered if he would ever know why.

"Nothing," he spat out quickly, hoping to avoid a fight, Adrienne drawing her face into a frown.

"Stop," she whined playfully, she was playing, thank God, biting her lip lightly.

Try again Daniel, she is here, smiling...

"You look like a librarian," he added, that Cajun glare now shot in his direction.

Or not, dammit.

"I do not."

She's smiling again, she's so pretty, not in any exotic fashion, just classic...

"Yeah you do."

Stop thinking about that Daniel.

"I do not dammit, they're designer glasses. They're Coach!" she shouted back, confusing Daniel completely.

"What?"

"Coach glasses, like the purses," she explained, Daniel rolling his eyes.

"Since when do you care about designer glasses?" he shot back.

"Since the lady at the eyeglasses store told me..." she answered sheepishly, unable to hide the smile creeping across her lips, "Stop pickin' on me."

Her accent slipped for a moment like it tended to do, it was cute, no, why am I thinking that, it's not cute...

"I just think it's funny," he stammered, standing awkwardly, offering her his bed to sit down on while he gathered the items from his desk to take a seat there, "You're always messing with me about MY glasses getting in the way and yet you wear them too, rather awkwardly I'd like to add..."

"You can go ta 'ell..."

"Indy? Sha, did ya get lost?" her voice was in his ear now, not just his head, a part of him warming inside, because she was his and no longer the at-times awkward librarian that stormed into his life.

"I really need a break; I'm losing track of how many times I've zoned out," Daniel was talking to himself again, adding that to the list of reasons he needed a rest.

Maybe he should get John to stand in for a few days, not that they could go anywhere, but it might be nice for he and Adrienne, and maybe Nicky too, just a few days to spend together, relaxing...

"Daniel? Now I'm getting worried, please answer."

"Sorry ja-wer, just got distracted, I'll be right there," he replied, standing and setting the glasses aside, rushing out of their room for the meeting.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"So, as you can see, Adrienne and I have a lot left to do before we load DATA into the mainframe and allow city-wide access but I'd like to start running practice simulations in the classrooms," Sam concluded as she shut off the screen, Daniel nodding. It was impressive what they had done, so far uploading the entire city manual into their hologram, creating what was essentially a face to face directional system.

"My only concern is access, how are we going to limit who has access to more confidential information while still allowing the system to meet everyone's needs?" he didn't need to say more, Sam nodding in understanding.

"I was thinking of using the optical scanners that Radek had in his old lab..." Adrienne suggested, "that way we can scan everyone, similar to the DNA recognition on the Daedalus, coding each person individually. It'll take time but I think Radek would be happy to help."

She had a point, and he was sure that Radek wouldn't mind putting his engineering hat back on for a while to work on this project, especially since the garden was doing so well.

"I agree; I think that's a great idea. In fact, given that we're still unsure where Todd has gone and if we will ever be seeing him again, I'd prefer you'd both halt all additional information uploads until we have some sort of security system in place," Daniel said, both women nodding in agreement.

"No prob sha," Adrienne answered promptly, Sam already standing, talking to what sounded like Radek in her communicator.

"Indy?" he heard a voice and felt his wife's hand at his wrist, pulling him over to the side, "we need to talk about Nicky's birthday."

The comment threw him off for a moment, Daniel glancing at his digital watch to see that they only had four weeks until their son was one year old.

"Yeah, your face was mine when I saw the calendar this morning..."

"How did I forget?" he felt awful but Adrienne was on it already, shaking her head and rubbing his arm.

"You run a city. I run a lab. Nicky acts like he's 30. It's pretty safe to say it was a combination of factors."

Daniel reached under his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Alright, are you working late tonight?" he asked, hoping the answer was no, but Adrienne shrugged, a grimace on her face.

"I don't have to; do you want me to take the night off? I was debating heading back here once you boys were in bed..." she answered honestly, exactly as he anticipated, Daniel waving his hands.

"Yeah, Zalenka's gotta pull the optical scanners anyway, make sure they're working and inform Rodney before he comes storming into my office asking why I haven't informed the chief science officer as to what we're doing. See if Radek and Sam can get started on it without you," he requested gently, frowning, making Adrienne bring her hand to his cheek, drawing him close.

"Daniel, are you ok?" she asked and he could hear the concern in her voice, and noted the lack of a nickname. He was a little stressed today, but nothing too bad, nothing he couldn't handle, but she would worry.

Worry might as well have been her middle name and he was her chief focus of said worry.

"I'm fine," he assured but the look on her face spoke volumes.

"Can you go take a nap? We're done here, what do you have left today? Ronon?"

He just looked at her, not even wanting to list for her exactly what he had left today.

"You've been tossing in bed sha; we've been sleeping together long enough for me to read between the lines..."

Damn Adrienne, always damn right.

He was glad he'd married her; it was kinda nice to have someone that knew you that well.

"No I'm fine, if it's not one thing it's another. We'll talk later. Dinner?" he asked, his wife nodding immediately before leaning up and kissing him slowly, in the lab with Sam or not.

"Yep," she said as she pulled her lips away, leaving her hand resting on his cheek, "Don't forget to stop and breathe; I'd be broken-hearted if I had to bury ya."

"I love you ja-wer," he kissed her lightly again, catching Sam smiling out of the corner of his eye. Flushing with embarrassment, he and Adrienne seemed to have less control over their displays of affection here and a guilty part of him knew it was because he was in charge, he darted out of the room headed to the security control room, his thoughts on birthday parties...

He'd never really cared that much about birthdays, even his parents had done very little to celebrate when they were alive. But he'd registered the date in the morning briefing, a passing thought of how he was getting older, trying to brush it aside.

He should have known Adrienne wouldn't.

There, sitting on his desk was a box with a bow, just like the box that had held coconut halves and a shot glass months before.

"What's this?" he asked the obvious question, Adrienne beaming from underneath her headphones. She was listening to heavy metal today, interesting, he'd have to store that for later harassment.

"It's your birthday present Indy. Open it!" She was nearly out of her seat at the words, Daniel trying not to smile. As they had become friends he learned that this was her way; not a single special occasion would pass by without Dr. Adrienne Rowan making sure that the person in question was fully pampered.

"You got me a present?" the coconut halves were one thing, sure, a gag even, but this...

He'd never had a friend like this before. She did these things just because, not wanting anything in return and while she did things like this with everyone it seemed to him that his gifts or little surprises were just a little more thought out, had a little more meaning...

"Yeah, that's what happens on birthdays," she corrected with a smile, one he couldn't help but return," you see, there are these things called stores and they sell a variety of items one can use as gifts and even these handy little boxes and cards! It's amazing."

"You're damn lucky I need your smart mouth," he shot back.

"You love me, now open it," she directed, Daniel started to do just that when he stopped, his face drawing into a frown.

"Well, thanks for the guilt Ad because I didn't get you one when it was, wait, when was your birthday?," he felt awful, not only hadn't he read that damn file but he had never bothered to ask, "Has it passed? Did I miss it?"

"It was June 18th," she said but without tone, just reporting to him a fact.

If today was July 8th he definitely forgot her birthday...

"Ad, I'm sorry, I..." he started but she was shaking her head, a finger pointed at his desk.

"Just open the box Indy, last thing I need is more crap, trust me, I have everything I need," she said before quickly sticking out her tongue. Laughing, he did, expecting something insane inside,

which is just what he found.

"It's a toy gun," he stated, asked, bewildered, peering back over at her.

"A Nerf gun like mine," she clarified.

"You SHOOT me with that," he countered. She did shoot him with it, a lot, right in the head.

"Yea, I do because you get into a zone," there was that mischievous grin again, Daniel rolling his eyes.

"No, I don't," he argued.

"Yes you do."

He didn't respond, her face was semi-serious, he did indeed get into a zone, but she was JUST as guilty...

"Fine, so I can shoot you now? When you get into a zone? You know that one that you don't get into either?" he spat back, removing the gun from the box to determine where to load the arrows because the next time there was loud rap music echoing through the lab he was gonna plant one right upside her head.

"Daniel Jackson," she smiled slyly, reaching to open her desk drawer where said weapon was stored, "are you proposing a Nerf war in your laboratory?"

Found it.

"Not at all," he said with a grin, shooting her right in the chest...

"I gotta see if the replicating machines can make a Nerf gun. The boy needs to know that's part of being in this family," Daniel was talking to himself, again, looking up to see that he had made it all the way to Ronon's office without even noticing.

Ronon's office, he thought, that made him laugh.

It was an office in that it was set up like any other plain office around Atlantis and that was it. Ronon hadn't changed a thing, hadn't put up a single decoration, not even a picture of Vala. Her presence in the office was evident, however, one table and chair in the corner of the room an explosion of, well, Vala. She'd left make-up, a few magazines, soda bottles, and some lotion but it was as if the entire area was in a bubble all of its own, never entrenching into Ronon's space. They were the odd couple, but somehow it was working and he just hoped that Vala didn't do anything to hurt the Satedan. Daniel had never thought of the man as the sensitive type, but Adrienne had told him different, much different. There was a part of Ronon Dex that would be forever hurt by the loss of his fiancee and the life as a husband and father that he wanted. That seemed to affect him much more than being a runner and it was not an exaggeration to say that Daniel was concerned that Vala wouldn't want the same.

Rubbing his head, trying to get the blood flowing to wake himself up, Daniel regretted not grabbing another cup of coffee from Adrienne, as he knocked at the open door. The Satedan was standing overlooking the wall of monitors that kept track of all activity in the city, peering over his shoulder at Daniel when he heard the sound.

"Hey," he greeted, not moving an inch, "ya ready?"

Ronon Dex was a man of a few words but that was refreshing. Were this a visit to Rodney he would have heard the results of every experiment in the past five hours and how if Rodney were allowed to rule Atlantis and the galaxy that magically everything would have worked the first time.

Ronon, on the other hand, who could probably successfully rule the galaxy were it to need a ruler, usually gave Daniel one minute overviews of everything he needed to know and not a word more.

"Yeah, anything I need to know about before we go?" Daniel checked, a nice way of hinting that some sort of report of anything would be nice because as much as Daniel appreciated what he did, General Telford? Not so much.

"Nope."

_Did I really expect anything else?_

"Then lead the way," Daniel requested, not really knowing what more to say. Slipping his gun into his leg holster, Ronon tapped a few things on the screen, pushing past his commander and out into the corridor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

The tall warrior might not say much but he was good at his job. Not that Daniel wanted to cultivate an environment of fear in his staff but there was always that little bit of respect you needed to have for the person that was in Ronon's position. That respect could not have been clearer as they toured the halls of the city, Ronon showing Daniel information from hidden wall panels, cameras checked, shields tested with his giant blaster, personnel nodding their heads in respect. Daniel was glad he had selected Ronon for this position, he was military, but not US military, so the scientists considered him not the typical jar head.

In fact, as Sam had pointed out right after that fateful briefing where Daniel had chosen his staff, Ronon Dex was the first non-Tau'ri individual to be assigned to a major post in any part of SGC operations. Honestly, Daniel hadn't even thought of that. The man was the most qualified candidate he had, especially given that Lt. Colonel Lorne had elected to stay on Earth.

All was clear, and as Daniel requested after Nicholas' little adventure, the safety shields had also been extended to make sure that no one went over the edge, accidentally or intentionally. There was a way to gain access outside, but you needed to check with Daniel first or have clearance issued. So far, only Jack and Carson had asked, to take Nicky fishing and a few times for the men to go together, but other than that it didn't seem that anyone in the staff cared as long as they still had access to the balconies.

Daniel had only one more stop before he had to head by his office, a new list of insanity and messages awaiting him he was sure.

His heart pounded strongly in his chest as the left the security office on the way to his next destination. He had known that the chances of the first embryo taking were pretty slim, his wife, of course, providing him a plethora of research on the matter, that this time he read and Carson confirmed. It was knowing, however, that she had still gone through what was essentially a miscarriage of the first one that was unsettling. Were it Adrienne he would have been in the bed with her, holding her, comforting her, but with Teyla he wasn't sure what to do. Not only was she not Adrienne, but the warrior woman had a way about her that was unique and strong and he really didn't know her as well as the rest of the Atlantis crew.

To be perfectly honest, he was still shocked that she had volunteered to do all of this, but again, despite his burning curiosity was afraid to ask her exact reason as to why.

Her door was open when he arrived, the sound of Torrin's voice tumbling out into the hallway, Teyla teaching him to read what sounded to be the _Cat in the Hat_. That was something else Daniel was looking forward to; it had taken Nicholas only about three days to master the concept, and Daniel couldn't help but hope that he and Adrienne's second child just might need them a little more, at least in an academic sense.

"Come in Daniel, you never need to stand outside," she invited gently before he could announce his presence.

Licking his lip nervously and looking down, Daniel nodded, slipping through the doorway. As he had thought from the outside, Torrin was sitting in the floor with the small blue book in his hand, his finger still sitting where he had been tracking. Teyla was positioned across from him, on the floor as well, as if she hadn't undergone any kind of major procedure.

"Please sit," she offered, Daniel nodding and sitting crossed legged nearby, a quick smile and wave in the direction of the boy.

"I wanted to see how you're feeling," he started right away, cursing himself for not thinking about Torrin sitting right there but Teyla didn't seem to mind, smiling pleasantly.

"I am well. How are you?" she turned the concern right back on him, Daniel shrugging in reply.

"Please do not worry. I have a good feeling about the next time Daniel," the Athosian woman continued. Of course she was worrying about he and Adrienne, but she still was able to continue her positive outlook on everything. It was her nature, she was not only a warrior in body, but in mind as well, always seeing the glass as half full. There were so many times when he wished he could be that way...

"I've got it!" Adrienne said as she pulled her legs from across his lap, again knocking his book to the floor. She was so damn antsy and when she got like this there was no point in trying to read.

But it did give him an excuse to prop his arms across her legs.

Damn distracting Adrienne; why in the hell did he have to fall in love with his assistant and closest friend?

"Got what?" he was almost afraid to ask.

"I know what your problem is," she declared, racing back to the kitchen to get more wine he knew.

That woman LOVED wine.

"What problem?"

The only problem that he could think of was Vala, day in and day out it seemed since he realized how he felt about Adrienne, harassing him. Some days it was picking the lock to his room to try to crawl into the shower with him and other days it was locking the lab door while Adrienne was at a meeting to lecture him on how she knew he loved her and that this insanity needed to end.

It just compounded to his general confusion about women as an entire gender.

And then there was Adrienne...

"Your happiness problem!" she shouted as she waltzed back into the living room, reaching to pour him a glass, a glass he didn't need, but he would drink, because that's what friends did, drink the wine that was poured.

"You sound like Jack; I don't have a happiness problem," Daniel spat back frowning, reaching for his full glass to have that almost knocked out of his hand as well as she flopped back down on the sofa, legs again in his lap.

"I think you suffer from Cherophobia," she stated so professionally that were they not watching a horror movie and drinking wine he would have almost believed her.

"And that is something else you read in those Psychology Journals our work keeps you from?"

"What it is smartass is a fear of letting yourself be happy on the off chance that everything is going to fall apart," she explained, taking a sip from her glass.

He went to argue but she was right, wasn't she?

Wasn't that exactly why he was sitting her debating as to whether or not he was going to reach out, book or not and hold her legs, take one tiny step in the direction of where his heart had already gone?

Screw it.

"Whatever Dr. Rowan, you keep trying to figure me out if that's what you need in life," he laughed, reaching out to wrap his arms around her calves...

"Daniel, you need not worry, Carson has everything under control," Teyla was in his face, Daniel realizing that yet again he had spaced out.

Adrienne was right, he needed to start taking a breather during the day.

"I know and Teyla I can't thank you enough," he answered, standing to do just that, rest.

"It is the least I can do Daniel. I am giving you ten months. You have given me my home back. The trade is still unbalanced," she said as she reached out her hand squeezing his gently. Smiling, not really knowing what to say back to that, Daniel excused himself to head to his quarters.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Thankfully, Davidson said there were no visitors to his office and a quick check on his messages from the panel in he and Adrienne's suite showed that there was nothing really pressing that he had to worry himself with.

Stepping away from the panel, he flicked it closed, unzipping his uniform jacket and tossing it aside. It was only three thirty, he had plenty of time to just lie down, relax, and maybe refocus his mind a touch. Cracking his neck, Daniel kicked off his boots, walking over to the dresser to set down his glasses when he caught sight of a tiny figurine, an antique statue of Aphrodite. He smiled, remembering it instantly.

Adrienne had given it to him for his birthday, what, a year ago, no two. He wasn't sure, but he knew where she had purchased it, just like everything else Greek that she bought...

She turned around running smack into him, Daniel catching her in his arms.

"Sorry, I dinna see ya," she apologized, her accent slipping like it did when she wasn't thinking until she realized exactly who she had run in to, her jaw dropping and eyes widening, "wha, Indy, wait, what are you doin' 'ere?"

He was caught, dammit he knew he shouldn't have come, it was obvious, they couldn't do this, he could never be with her, why did he think in a million years...

"Daniel, are you ok?"

Focus Daniel focus, talk to her like a normal person, you do every single day this is not that hard.

"Yeah, I was just worried about you. After that meeting, with Woolsey; that wasn't your fault," he went with his stock excuse, the one he had worked on the entire drive over, even though he was fairly certain she had brushed off the tongue lashing easily.

Yeah, it's not hard.

It's impossible.

I love you Adrienne.

"Aww, thanks, but I'm ok. I've worked long enough for the government to be used to it..." she didn't seem to feel like he was patronizing her in the least, she looked touched and he had been worried but he had really just wanted to see her.

And hold her...

Let go Daniel, you're still holding on to her...

I'm still holding her...

"Well, yeah, but you left so quickly," he stuttered as he backed up, Adrienne letting go slowly, was she lingering, she's lingering, don't let go...

"I just need to get out of there, some historical therapy," she replied, gone now, from his arms, Daniel trying to clear his throat.

"Can I join you?"

The question was across his lips before he could stop himself, Adrienne laughing coyly.

"Of course, but I still can't figure out how you found me," and there was the one thing he hadn't taken into account. I watch you, his mind was saying, I love you and I've made sure to learn about everything that's important to you because even though I might never be able to tell you how I feel I want to make sure that each and every day I'm with you that you know how special you are...

"You talk about that big stuffed bear in the window a lot, it creeps you out," he chose instead, pointing to the front of the store.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," she answered, looking disappointed, is she disappointed, did she see through me, tell her, tell her that she's the person you never thought existed and you want to be with her forever.

Daniel started to extend his hand for a moment before reconsidering, pulling away...

"I wonder if I was really that obvious," he said aloud, momentarily startled by hands slipping around his waist, soft lips at his ear, rubbing lightly.

"About wha sha?" she asked, kissing his cheek as he turned around in her arms, reaching his hand for her face.

"What are you doing down here?" he questioned, surprised to see her, pleasantly surprised but hoping that nothing was wrong.

"You weren't in your office and you didn't answer your communicator, so I thought you'd headed down here for some quiet like I suggested. I just had something cool I wanted to show you," she said before kissing him quickly, melting into his arms.

"Yeah, I came down here to get something and was considering heeding your advice and taking a breather," he replied, holding her so close to him, relishing in their simple contact. This made it all better, her, them, and he just never wanted to let go.

"So what were ya yammerin' on about?" Adrienne ventured with a grin, her chin in his chest as she peered back up at him.

"Just a strange day, I'm just tired, spacing out, been thinking about things..."

"Like what?" and she was pulling away, but this time he didn't let her escape so easily, Adrienne smiling at the gesture.

"Us, things I missed, things I didn't. Some of the stupider stuff I did, when I was afraid to tell you how I felt about you," he admitted, Adrienne unable to help but giggle.

"You mean memorizing my favorite everything, learning where I went to escape or actually watching True Blood?"

Daniel froze. Ok, the True Blood thing was obvious, he'd all but told her that, but did she really know about the rest of it?

Had she always known about the rest of it?

"Daniel Anthony Jackson, born on July 8th 1965 to Melburne and Claire Jackson in New York City. Your favorite color is red, you hate reality TV and you would live off of 5th Avenue bars and M&M's if you could. You sleep on your left side unless we're on a mission, and then you sleep on your back, but you do that all of the time because I like to sleep on you. You shove your hands into your pockets or bite or lick your lips when you're nervous. You HATE Wallis Budge, if that's even strong enough a word. You suck at Gin, but you can MURDER anyone at Chess. You fell off your bike in a housing project when you were eleven and had a huge scar on your upper thigh for years until me and our healing mess and you cried when Bambi's mother was killed..." she started to ramble, Daniel making a face.

"We're married; you're supposed to know those kinds of things," he countered but his wife just shook her head, pulling away, looking down at her feet, a touch of pink growing lightly at her cheeks.

"I knew them, all of them and more the moment I realized you were the person I never thought existed."

A tear in his eye at her words, he looked away from her only long enough to see that it was early, early enough where Jack wouldn't be back with Nicky for over an hour. Facing her, Daniel swept Adrienne up into his arms, carrying her over to the bed.

For the rest of the afternoon, despite the long list of things to do, his body worn with exhaustion, the galaxy in strange influx, Daniel decided to focus his attention to Adrienne.

All that mattered right now was their love.

And he WAS going to set up the lab next door tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5 - A Double Edged Sword

He only caught a glimpse of the creature as their captain led it past him, down the long narrow passage way to what Kanaan assumed were his personal quarters. He himself had never been there but he assumed the man slept, although he had never seen him do so with his own eyes. It had to be the drug, keeping him operating at what seemed to be full power all hours of the day and night, but his people refused to take it, even Wex, the young man having done everything in his power to make Kanaan's life more difficult after he had made this choice.

As if there ever was a choice.

He had watched the love of his life fly away, on a mission he knew in his heart may take her away from him forever, leaving his people to hope for the best.

The best, however, hadn't come.

Maybe in some children's story the good guys take a risk and make the ultimate sacrifice, taking the bad guys down in a blaze of glory, but the super hive was just that, a hive, a single solitary collective of villains but by no means did it hold them all. The rest of the Wraith had been just sitting in the wings, waiting, hoping that the intruders from the Milky Way would do their work for them and they had, both of the major powers of the galaxy disappearing in the blink of an eye.

It had taken exactly four months for the hives to arrive, not bothering to sneak in under the cover of night or anything as dramatic. They had shown up at the morning meal, blasting anything in sight that was inedible. Kanaan hadn't been sure for a few days later, but his people, a once flourishing race, had been reduced to twenty two.

Just thinking about that number made him sick.

There had been no time for speeches or other heroics. It was pure and simple, Kanaan was the most able-bodied person in the village with the experience to lead a group so he had taken charge. No one argued, not even the trio of teens that had banded together, Jinto, Wex and Akira, who seemed to have reach the rebellious stage of their development at the most inopportune of times. There was nothing that they really could say, there was no better option. The tribe had found caves on the mainland, moving their residences there and all was well for the rainy season.

Until the ship arrived, until Aiden Ford showed up, in gear so similar to what Teyla herself wore as she helped the Earthlings, until he made them an offer he couldn't refuse and their world had yet again been turned upside down.

They thought they were safe, finally.

Ford's story had been believable enough, the Wraith left behind as the strongest chased Atlantis across the universe went into a feeding frenzy. Kanaan had been witness to that, the attack on their village was brutal in a way that he was not used to, Wraith feeding on their victims right there, tossing the corpses aside. Apparently that had been the pattern of behavior across the galaxy, in some cases whole cities decimated in way they hadn't been before. The power vacuum left by the loss of Atlantis after their accidental awakening of the Wraith had been the worst in the history of the galaxy.

Enter Aiden Ford, refusing to acknowledge his Earth title of Lieutenant any longer. Ford had managed to take over a smaller hive ship, forcing the Wraith into service, making his way across the galaxy, battling the other ships, intervening on behalf of the humans when he could. He told Kanaan that this was for the good of his species, but Kanaan knew that for as honest as the man was being he was still addicted to the enzyme that had given his caramel skin a tinge of blue and make his eyes black as pitch.

What Kanaan didn't totally understand was why, by the time Ford had landed on Atlantica looking for his people to return, why his ship was being manned by Wraith, free Wraith, Wraith that answered to him. It seemed unlikely that any Wraith would submit to a human, but he soon discovered why. It wasn't until he agreed to bring his people on board, to fight to save his galaxy that he heard the screams echoing through the ship, screams that only meant one thing. Too late to turn back now, his soul sold to the devil, Kanaan just kept a daily headcount of his own while serving as one of Ford's advisors.

Now, however, was the complication of their visitor, one that Ford was keeping close at hand. He remembered this Wraith working with John Sheppard. He had seen him when he was with Teyla on Atlantis, before he had made the painful choice to protect their people while Teyla and her friends waged war from the city.

A choice that separated him from her and left him with these creatures, who had returned to slaughter their people.

Was Teyla home? The Wraith had last been seen with his wife and her friends.

He should have been thinking about their people, about the mission to overtake the other hives, but all he could think about was Teyla and his son.

Had Torren lived? How big was he now? Did he look like him?

"Kanaan?"

It was time to begin, go over the next attack with his people. Turning around to face his men, Kanaan vowed to find a way to Ford's quarters, if not for any other reason than to find out the fate of his family.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Teyla couldn't help but smile at Daniel's message.

_Wanted to talk to you before the appointment. Could you swing by the auxiliary lab?_

It wasn't that he wanted to talk with her; she had anticipated that, as they would know today if their second attempt at implantation took. Adrienne had been very excited and Daniel knew that were this not to work she might not take it well, the entire process being more emotionally taxing on the Earth woman than she had expected. She had gotten to know Adrienne very well over the course of this entire process, coming to understand her in a way that she hadn't before. The Cajun was complex, intelligent, and forever giving of herself in a way that Teyla found at times utterly heartbreaking.

So, it wasn't anything having to do with she and Adrienne's newfound closeness and Daniel's never ending concern for her well-being that was making that sly smile creep across her face.

It was the 'auxiliary lab'.

She had honestly been somewhat surprised that Daniel and Adrienne even allowed themselves to be separated for as long as they had, but she was certain that Daniel was trying to remain professional. Married or not however, one could not argue that they were an amazing team and as Daniel was starting to resume gate exploration to take a survey of former allies across the galaxy, he needed his partner to bounce ideas off of.

That, and he missed her, which was heartwarming.

He'd even started requesting to come on some scouting missions himself here and there, leaving John in charge in his stead, Daniel slipping into his place on the team. Adrienne was more than capable, but she could tell he missed the excitement of the discovery and sharing it with his wife.

This afternoon however, after her appointment, he would not be going to the mainland, sending his first recon team alone. Teyla had retained her place on the team, a team now made of she, John, Adrienne and Sam. Ronon felt his place was running security full time, especially with the true whereabouts of the Wraith still unknown and Teyla couldn't say she didn't agree. Torren now looked after himself for the most part, young, as most Athosian children did, and it made her feel safe leaving him behind with Ronon protecting them all. She would load into a jumper with her team, her new team, heading out to explore the mainland in a much more scientific fashion, in an attempt to discover what had happened to her people.

A wave of hunger raced over her, Teyla smiling as she grabbed a piece of fruit from her table. It took, she knew it had taken, no test Carson could or would run could convince her otherwise, could make her question what her heart or body already knew. A smile on her face, she reached down for her stomach hoping the child that had to be inside knew how very many people wanted to see his or her beautiful face, herself included.

The pleasant thought moving her onward, she walked back over to the control panel, messaging Daniel that she would be there momentarily, her mind already counting down to deliver the happy news she knew she would so desperately need herself after their visit to the village.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Error, upload does not compute," the hologram stated, Adrienne beating her head dramatically onto her desk.

"Dammit, yes it does, it's SIMPLE GAH DAMN ASGARD YA DAMN COOYON MACHINE!" she screamed as she lifted her head and stood, hands on her shoulders pushing her back down into her seat.

"It can't understand you ja-wer, but I can. And hear you, next door, while I was conferencing with Botany and Oceanography..." Daniel whispered in her ear softly, Adrienne slamming herself into her seat, head again on her arms.

"Language not recognized. What is coo-yon?" the creepy Star Trek character asked, Adrienne peeking up at it again.

"It's you," she replied smartly.

"I am Data, the Digital Ancient Technological Archive, a holographic informational system based on the character played by Brent Spiner in the television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation which ran from.."

Daniel stared as the voice stopped, the shimmering mouth continuing to ramble on, presumably to state other nerdy facts that he was certain that his wife knew.

"He gets on my nerves so I added mute to the remote," she said from her arms, head back on desk, Daniel unable to stifle his laughter at Adrienne's small tantrum.

"Now I know what Anakin felt like when he built 3PO," she added without looking up, her hand wandering around her desk in search of her vitamin water he was sure, Daniel reaching out to slide it into her grasp.

"When who built what Ad?" he asked confused as she popped her head up to take a sip of the beverage.

"Star Wars, Episode One, The Phantom Menace. I knew you fell asleep," she shot back, a playful cajun glare in his direction.

"I did not, but anyway," he decided to change the topic quickly since he had indeed fallen asleep during that particular film, twice, yet still unable to hide his smile, "why don't you take a break from your toy? You guys leave in about an hour."

"I know," she responded, "bags already packed."

Daniel frowned in confusion, "With what? This is recon to get some information to set up a site, you aren't staying and you are not setting up a site."

"Yeah," she said as she stood, pointing the remote over her head making the green skinned reminder of her geek status flicker into nothing, "but I want to start gridding if I can, before we go out there again. When Dex and John went out there a second time they said they saw signs of a struggle. I want to see if there is anything, debris, casings, any other clues."

Daniel just laughed, shaking his head, knowing he should have expected as much.

"Workaholic."

"I learned from the best."

"No, you came like that. That's how I got stuck with you," he joked back, peeking over his shoulder before reaching out to grab her hands, pulling her into a slow, deep kiss.

"What was that for?" she asked as she pulled away, flushing at the sudden outward display of affection, the door to her lab open for any of her staff to wander in and catch them.

"Because I can and I need to make up for sitting upstairs and missing the opportunity," he teased, leaning in for just one more peck, which she of course gave, letting them go longer than just a simple kiss.

If only they could just slip away...

"Nice try but being sweet doesn't get you out of daddy duty," she said as she let their hands drop away, walking over to shoulder her bag.

"Isn't the mommy supposed to plan birthday parties?"

Cajun glare number two, but he deserved that one.

"I'm not kidding Daniel, CLEAR YOUR CALENDAR, get that space, threaten Rodney, do whatever you need to do and go through that gah damned list," she warned, Daniel nodding.

"Fine Ad, fine. It's next on my agenda I swear," he reached out for her again, this time Adrienne tossing her arms onto his shoulders.

"See you at the appointment," she said before kissing him lightly, resisting the urge herself to get carried away, again, lest the staff she was worried about only moments ago walking in on their indiscretion.

"I have a good feeling about this one," he whispered, holding her tightly, hoping his hunch was correct.

"Me too," and she was pulling away, heading for the door.

"Gonna run by Sam's before we go and tell Nicholas good-bye. Love you sha," she shouted as she walked backwards, waving with her free hand.

"I love you too. Be safe," and she was gone.

Smiling Daniel returned to his new workspace, a whole ten feet away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Spying was not something Athosians did; it seemed dishonorable and their culture prided themselves on standing up to face the challenges in their lives. On the other hand, whoever had made up those rules did not think to include trapped on a hive ship after making a huge mistake as a possible exception to the rule. Therefore, Kanaan rationalized, he had every right to check on things happening through the narrow and less populated passageways of the ship.

There had been fewer screams lately and Kanaan wasn't sure if that meant they were out of victims or Ford had stifled their cries but either way he would have liked some sort of sound in the darkness as he made his way through the hallways. Not a soul passed by him, making him wonder if he had been wrong in his mental notes and observations, that maybe there was nothing suspicious going on here as he had thought.

The space grew tighter, darker, Kanaan barely able to see in front of himself, forcing him to reach out and touch the moist organic walls to guide his movements. He was starting to think this was a bad idea, maybe he should just wait to see if Ford would seek him out when he felt a hand on his back, freezing at the touch.

"I know you."

Heart in his throat Kanaan turned around to see the Wraith, the visitor, that familiar face staring down at him.

"You're the female's mate."

Teyla, he thought, he knows Teyla...

"She looked for you, when we arrived. She took John to the village. She thinks that you are dead," he added, Kanaan nearly losing his breath.

Teyla was alive and back in the galaxy, back on their world, safe, sound and looking for him.

"See, look at his face. He wants to go; there's really no question," and there was Ford, not down this hallway at all but standing right behind the blue creature as if he had been waiting all along, or following Kanaan on his hunt.

"Go where?" Kanaan asked, hoping his crazy thoughts were not influencing his good judgement, his hopes getting ahead of him.

"To Atlantis. We need to explain to Dr. Jackson the way things work now," Ford replied gazing back at Todd who stood beside him expressionless, a million thoughts running through Kanaan's mind.

_Who is Dr. Jackson? _

_Haven't I heard that name before?_

_Why did he need to be explained anything? _

_What was Ford talking about 'the way things work'?_

_And..._

"Why me?" he vocalized the last question, his dark eyes darting back and forth to see which of the two men would answer first. Of course he wanted to go, wanted to take Teyla into his arms, see his son, but Ford didn't care about that; he didn't have the ties that bonded Kanaan.

"Because our friend here made the error of punching Dr. Jackson's wife in the face and from what I've heard, he's not as mild mannered now as we might remember, especially when it comes to her," was the response, Kanaan's heart sinking.

_So you aren't sending me to talk with anyone; you're sending me to possibly die._

"Come with me. There are things we need to discuss before you leave," Ford motioned kindly, too kindly, leading the way down the hall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Alright everyone, remember, we don't know what we could be walking in to and the personal shields drain quickly. Only activate if you're given the signal," John ordered as the team zipped up their vests, ready to work.

"At least he let us take them, I thought I was gonna have to beg," Adrienne joked, lifting her own shield as it hung at her neck.

"Or send me. Jennifer or not, Rodney still stares at me with this, look..." Sam replied, Teyla shaking her head.

"There is no Jennifer any longer," she corrected softly, both woman glaring back at Teyla in surprise.

"What happened?" Adrienne asked before she could contain herself. It wasn't any of her business but they had been together longer than she and Daniel and it just was unsettling to see anything happen to another couple. Not that she thought anything was wrong with her and Daniel, but Adrienne had become a bit of a soft heart when it came to romance, another consequence of her relationship with her former boss.

_Stupid Daniel. Damn distracting stupid Daniel. _

"I am uncertain. I do believe there was some hesitation on Jennifer's part about returning to the Pegasus and Rodney did not share the hesitation," she explained, Adrienne catching Sam breathing out.

"Really?" she was asking Sam more this time because she was able to read something on her friend's face that she couldn't hide.

"It's not my place, but I think Teyla isn't too far off the mark," she answered quietly, shaking her head, Adrienne making a mental note to ask her later. If that was the case, and Adrienne was almost certain that it would have been Rodney leaving Jennifer in the rudest way, it was still the end to something she thought was a given...

"We're on a limited time frame guys, Daniel said four hours tops," John was shouting, Sam walking to join him.

"Addy, you and Teyla take the northern part of the village and we'll start here?" Sam too stopped discussing Rodney McKay's personal life, Adrienne and Teyla nodding in agreement as they hitched up their packs and began to walk across the village.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Daniel peeked up at the sound of footsteps, Jack marching into his lab, Nicholas in tow.

"What's so urgent? I was about to blast Munchkin's star cruiser out of the cosmos," Jack asked as he crossed the small space to find a chair, pulling it out and taking a seat.

"Whatever Uncle Jack, if that makes you feel better," Nicholas said with a smile, trotting to his dad's side.

"Video games?!" Daniel asked, verbal confirmation that the care schedule on Jack's wall had been a crock of garbage, given that today, which Jack had so cleverly entitled 'Language Arts' had been a day instead for gaming...

"Self defense," Jack answered.

"Computer programming too," Nicky added, smiling over at Jack, "I adjusted the settings on the shields for the allied vessels. It's more accurate to what we know about updated Asgard technology."

"Really Daniel, you expect me to teach that?" Jack pointed over his shoulder.

"Point taken, Nicholas stop cheating on video games," Daniel said as he reached down to pick up his son and set him on the table.

"I didn't. I have them available to Uncle Jack too, but he has to figure out how to use them. Otherwise, it IS a cheat and not an update," the boy argued, Daniel shaking his head.

He was so his mother's child.

"Well, time to take a break from all of that academic excellence you two have been engaging in, Adrienne's left me a to-do list," Daniel changed the subject, Jack already leaning back and laughing in the chair.

"It never ceases to amaze me how you, the most stubborn person I have ever met, bow down to Dr. Perky like you do," the retired general shot, peeking at his charge for support.

"It's not bowing, it's a marriage," Daniel answered, for his son's benefit and his son's benefit alone.

"No, it's justice for being such a pain in my ass for so many years but carry on," Jack laughed some more, shaking his head at the reply.

"She wants to have a party for you Nicholas," Daniel started, now looking at the boy, "but I want to make sure we do what you want to do and not what your mom has read in a book, because we all know how she is. She wants me to figure out the basics so she can start planning, but we need to figure out as much as possible together, now."

"But Mom doesn't like to make a big deal over stuff; she didn't for your anniversary," Nicholas responded.

"She does for birthdays, the more romantic celebrations she feels is rubbing it in other people's faces," the archaeologist explained.

"Does she make a big deal for your birthday?" his son asked, Daniel laughing.

"Oh yeah. I'm actually a little scared as to what she's gonna do," he responded, Jack chuckling from the chair.

"Dr. Perky and I need to talk..."

Daniel shot him a glare, rolling his eyes because he could only imagine what the two of them would come up with together, as he grabbed the legal pad to do the only thing his wife had asked him to do in her absence, "Ok, first thing on the list is your mother wants you to have a smash cake, so we need to pick at the very least a flavor."

"What's that?" Jack was frowning, Daniel taking a breath before he continued, knowing what was to come.

"It's a small cake, just for Nicholas. We let him tear it apart."

A small hand waved in front of him, right on cue.

_And here we go, Adrienne versus Adrienne junior and I'm in the middle..._

"Wait, I don't get a fork?" the boy asked, Daniel trying not to take any side in the argument that he knew was forming.

"No," Daniel replied, anticipating this reaction, "you just dive right in. With your hands and face..."

_She set me up, she knew this was gonna happen..._

"Mom does realize my IQ is about 172, right?"

_Just like that._

"She also still refers to you as her teddy bear," Jack spoke up, Daniel pinching his nose under his glasses.

"Ewok," he corrected, avoiding eye contact with his son.

"Right, who despite their primitive appearance were quite the warriors, not, well, not..."

"Not messy eaters?" Jack offered.

"Yeah," Nicholas agreed, "that."

_Thanks Jack, you've always got my back..._

"Nicholas, she was quite insistent..." Daniel tried, his son giving him his own frown.

_And you don't get kicked to the sofa when you piss her off..._

"Then you eat it," the boy replied, Jack cracking up.

"Oh yeah, Daniel can eat it let Dr. Perky clean him up, I bet that would be..."

"My son is in the room," Daniel shouted at Jack, who just rolled his eyes, sitting back in the chair with that stupid grin on his face.

_Ok, yeah, that's not a bad idea. _

_Stop Daniel, focus. _

_Damn distracting Adrienne. _

"Your son isn't ignorant which brings us back to the point of this entire conversation," Nicholas added, Daniel glaring at him, "Sir, uh, sorry Dad, I didn't mean to be rude, it's just that mom -" but Daniel was waving his hand, halting his son's apology.

"Can we at least agree for you to do something with the cake in front of everyone?" Daniel now tried, sympathizing. After all, the child was half his as well, and if Daniel thought this was foolish as well the least he could do was support his son.

"Can I pie Uncle Jack?" the boy perked up, changing his tune, "Like in the Three Stooges?"

"Hey!" Jack sat up, a smile spreading across Daniel's face.

"You taught him that, not us," the commander replied to his old friend, turning to face Nicholas, "agreed. Smash cake replaced with smash pie, on Jack. Perfect. Now, item number two, a theme..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"I hope that the news of Rodney and Jennifer did not upset you," Teyla had waited until Adrienne was on her knees digging carefully where it looked as if a weapon had been discharged before bringing up the subject again.

Damn empathic Athosian.

"You know me too well," the archaeologist replied in earnest as she sat back on her heels, glancing over at her friend with a forced smile.

"It does not mean that you and Daniel will fade," the Athosian ventured, Adrienne shaking her head, although there was always that worry, not that she and Daniel would fade, she knew in her heart that they were stronger than that.

It was the fear that her perfect life was just a dream from which some day she would wake up.

"No, it's not that. It's just sad when something like that dies," she answered, Teyla returning the grin sympathetically.

"What if there was nothing alive there in the first place?"

Adrienne shrugged at her suggestion, still worried about Jennifer, yet another friend she had neglected worrying about her own problems, looking back to the ground.

"We will receive good news today," Teyla added quickly, trying to change the subject Adrienne could tell. The Cajun paused again for a moment, not wanting to exhibit any emotion one way or the other, but Daniel had said that very thing to her this morning.

_Please let it be real..._

"I hope so," she whispered, glancing back down at the marked area.

"I know so," Teyla countered, still sitting and watching as Adrienne looked up again, disregarding her work for a second time.

"You do?"

_Please..._

"Yes. We Athosians know things."

"Are you late?" Adrienne's heart raced, fantasies already rocketing through her head, Teyla telling her, Adrienne dashing back across the waters to find Daniel, run to him, throw herself in his arms and tell him that it worked that they were gonna have another baby...

"Late?"

Of course she wouldn't use Earth terminology; why would Teyla have any idea what that meant. Hands waving as she tried to think, Adrienne searched her brain for words that wouldn't make her start blushing like mad and still makes sense to her friend.

"Your cycle. Have you not bled?" she tried, the words still more than her upbringing would allow her to comfortably say, red coursing through her cheeks.

"I have not bled since Carson started the hormonal treatments," Teyla replied, thankfully needing no further explanation.

_Ok, that's a no go..._

"Cramping, hunger, exhaustion, nausea?" the Cajun tried, her friend shaking her head.

"No," Teyla whispered as Adrienne's mood changed.

It was a hunch. Teyla had a hunch and no proof; she was just trying to make Adrienne feel better.

"Oh," and Adrienne looked back at the blast sight, leaning closer to the loose granules.

_Stop getting your hopes up Addy..._

"Trust me Adrienne, all will be well," Teyla assured, Adrienne digging back into the soil, trying not to think about it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Kanaan had never flown a jumper before, but Ford didn't seem to want to allow Todd to return to Atlantis. Instead, the Wraith had been ordered to program the auto pilot, at a speed fast enough where Kanaan would reach the city in just a few hours. He didn't dare ask how fast that was, how quickly he would be hurdling through space in a machine that he couldn't control, instead pulling Halling into his quarters to explain where he was going. He told him very little, just that the city had been found and that Ford was sending Kanaan to reveal themselves and see how their friends from Earth were faring after all of these years...

He avoided the rest; Halling wouldn't have approved.

Kanaan didn't either, really, Ford proclaiming himself some sort of genetic god of the area. He declared that Kanaan needed to tell this Dr. Jackson, some scientist from Earth who had been chosen to lead the expedition this time, the name one the Athoisan felt was familiar, that they had succeeded in culling the population to only two hives outside of their own. That much Kanaan thought was true, or believed to be true, the only two other hives that they were aware of not nearly as strong as they were. That didn't, however, mean that others hadn't gone into hiding, there could be any number of remobilizing Wraith waiting in the wings. It wasn't as if there was some master list of hive ships that Ford could go down, knocking them out one by one.

When it was time to leave he found it odd that he wasn't given any kind of warning. Surely Todd had told their leader about Teyla, surely they knew that Kanaan would most likely beg his mate and child to join him so he could insure their safety. In fact no one even warned him that he was not to stay on the base himself, joining the people of Earth once more. Perhaps that wasn't a concern; maybe Ford knew that Kanaan wouldn't leave what was left of his people or just didn't care if he did.

The ship sat alone in the bay, the back hatch open, a sight that he thought he would never see again. Atlantis, according to Halling, was all that was left of the Ancestors here and when it went to Terra it took that little bit of their heritage with them. Kanaan wasn't sure if he believed that, part of him still questioning the validity of tales that his own ancestors swore were just stories, horror stories that were told to keep curious children from messing with any technologies that they may find. No turning back, Kanaan stepped forward, letting children's tales chill his soul as he made his way to the captain's chair.

He took a seat, looking forward, not knowing what he should do to start the ship when the machine itself activated, the door coming to a close behind him. Turning, he peered over his shoulder to see that he was truly alone, that he was asked to be doing this alone, the only thought driving him onward knowing that Teyla was on the other side.

The vessel shook and started to move, Kanaan holding on to the sides of the seat when his hand slipped on something smooth, a tiny piece of paper shoved into the handle. Puzzled, he opened the folded sliver, confused by the scratching on its surface.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Addy, you there?" Sam's voice broke Adrienne's trance, yes she had admitted after years of being with Daniel that she did get into a trance and it was just like he did, the archaeologist sitting back on her heels to tap at her ear and answer the call.

"Unfortunately," she replied, taking the opportunity to peek over at Teyla who was rummaging through piles of pottery, a sad look on her face as she did so. There had been an attack, that much was obvious, but all of the blast sites seemed to be Athosian weaponry and things that the villagers had gotten from Atlantis, nothing to indicate who had attacked them. Adrienne knew in her heart what that meant, there was only one species of creature that didn't need weapons and that species of creature had clocked her in the face only a few weeks ago and escaped from their control.

She was such an idiot.

"I need you and Teyla over here, now," the scientist's voice was calm but cautious, Adrienne frowning. She'd found something, that much was clear, but whether or not that something was a sight for the person who could be at this moment carrying her unborn child was still up for debate.

"Teyla? You sure?"

"John says so, says that she'll read it on us anyway," Sam responded sadly, Adrienne nodding even though her friend couldn't see. She was right, Teyla's empathic abilities were such a gift in so many ways and a complete pain in the ass in others.

Must be how Daniel felt about Adrienne reading his emotions and facial expressions.

_Oh well. _

"We'll be right there," the Cajun replied, looking up from her area and over at Teyla, who was already peering over at her.

"John has found something," she stated calmly as Adrienne tried to avoid rolling her eyes.

_Of course you know what's up._

"Maybe, they just want us over there pronto," Adrienne answered, standing and pointing to the mess at her feet, "leave this. I want to take some pictures to bring back to the lab and for my report to Daniel, but the rest can wait."

Setting her tools gently aside, Teyla rose as well, her dark orbs focused on Adrienne.

"They found them," she whispered calmly, the look in her eyes enough to chill anyone to the core.

"No, they found something, but she didn't tell me what."

"If it were anything else, Samantha would have said. But she did not," Teyla pointed out, Adrienne breathing out strongly.

She had a point...

"Come on, we aren't gonna know until we get there. Leave everything, we can come back for it before we leave. Let's go see what Sam's yammerin' about. Who knows; it might be some thousand year old treasury and we can take it all back and laugh while Vala wallows in gold," Adrienne tried to joke but Teyla didn't look convinced; she didn't have any emotion at all.

Walking ahead to lead the way, Adrienne resisted the urge to call her husband, her best friend, her rock, the one person that she wanted at this very moment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Nicholas, you can't, your mother will fall to pieces," Daniel pleaded, the small child holding his ground. He was about to offer an alternative, start bribing even, Jack just laughing away from where he was sitting at the side desk reading some comic book when the loudspeaker clicked on, Davidson's voice wafting across the room.

"Sir, the Genii delegation is here."

"Of course they are," Daniel sighed, looking over at Jack, "Can you talk some sense into him? He needs to learn how women work."

"From you? That's the problem right there," Jack said as he stood, the boy looking between the two of them.

"Does that mean the party planning is over?" the boy asked, reaching for Jack to get help down.

"No, Nicholas, you need to pick a theme that doesn't let your mother know that you can operate jumpers and essentially fly this city," Daniel ordered as he packed his satchel.

"But it's fun, flying, the cake can look like the control panel. You KNOW Mom would LOVE to make that.."

"I'm just so glad that you have two of them now," Jack said with a smile as he stood to help the boy to the floor, "it's just what you deserve..."

"No, no ships, no flying, no, just no. Keep working down that list while I go put on my bureaucrat face," Daniel said from the door, slipping out, headed for the transporters to his main office.

"She'd hate those books you read too," Jack joked, Nicholas shrugging.

"I know..." he muttered, trying to think of something else.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Teyla slow down!" John was shouting because he knew that she would know, the Athosian woman nearly at a full sprint by the time she and Adrienne got to the rise.

"What is it?" Adrienne paused to ask Sam, letting John deal with his old friend as Sam shook her head, passing over a zat.

"The dead. They burned the dead and it's..." she took a breath, composing herself, "it's so many."

Adrienne was about to ask for more details when she heard a shriek, stepping forward to help Teyla, knowing what her own reaction would be, but Sam stopped her, holding her gently by the arm.

"Let John, I think she just needs John."

Biting her lip, Adrienne took Sam's hand in her own, needing the contact of her friend.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Since they arrived on Atlantis, Adrienne had played the precarious position of 'I am a department head and a member of the first Recon team but I am also married to the commander of the city' and played it well so she thought. Other the sneaking into Daniel's office in the wee hours of the night for occasional marital hanky panky, that they were certain no cameras had caught, she tended to keep her distance from him, especially during normal working hours.

Right now she didn't give a shit.

He was there waiting when she got off the jumper, Sam had called ahead as Adrienne was consoling Teyla, John the one flying the ship home. The archaeologist had made her way over to the site after giving Teyla a moment of privacy, one in which one of the kindest people Adrienne had ever met had thrown up and was kneeling at the ground in front of a mound of ashes and black, ashes that were clearly human remains.

She almost threw up herself.

But she held it together, just as she promised Sam she would, her arm wrapped around Teyla's shoulder the entire way home until the jumper landed, Teyla insisting that she change and stop by her quarters before her doctor's appointment, marching right out of the transport. Adrienne had forgotten completely, but the guilt washing over her was more than she could bear as her friend's only concern was to get to an appointment to see if she was carrying another woman's baby, while the father of her own could have been a pile of ashes.

Dr. Adrienne Jackson rushed her husband the minute she saw him, burying herself into his body despite the gawks and stares of the personnel in the jumper bay. Daniel didn't shrug her away, wrapping his arms protectively around her as Sam approached, shaking her head.

"Any idea how many?" he asked as Adrienne felt fingers running through her hair, but she didn't want to look up, no matter how embarrassed she was, everyone was looking at them. She just wanted Daniel to take her away from the horror she had witnessed.

"No, I can take Vala and John and head back tomorrow, but it's a hard sight," Sam answered, Adrienne finally pulling her own head back to look up at him.

"I can go, I'm sorry Indy, I've seen bodies before, it was just so many and Teyla, sha it could be Kanaan in there and I just," she was trying, she hoped he knew she was, but the tears were flowing uncontrollably. Daniel didn't say or do a thing to make her feel any shame, kissing her head and looking back at Sam, taking Adrienne back into his arms.

"Do you mind getting Vala and Ronon and heading back now, while we're in the appointment? At least take a survey of that area so I can look at it later? I'd like to head out to the site myself..." he started, Adrienne pulling away.

"No Indy, you should go, I'll head down to the infirmary," she protested but Daniel shook his head.

"No, I want to be there for this, for us. And before anyone else goes out there I want Ronon to give it the all clear," he reasoned, Adrienne nodding in understanding.

"Sure. Let me go tell Jack, I'll make sure Nicholas isn't in earshot and I'll call Vala on the way," Sam replied, her hand already at her communicator. Sniffing in, Adrienne pulled back to compose herself, straightening her tac vest and shirt only to feel fingers at her own, Daniel holding her hand.

"Let's head on down to Carson. You can tell me along the way what you found," he said, not seeming to care in the least that Adrienne had just been in the jumper bay, sobbing as she clung to him for dear life. Sucking in a few more tears, his wife reached in to slip her arm around his waist, letting him lead her out into the hallway.

"What did you find?" he asked the moment they were away, pulling away from her clasp only enough to walk comfortably.

"Teyla and I not too much. There was fighting, but it looks like it was very one sided, the Athosians using whatever they had to keep everyone at bay," Adrienne started, letting her arm slip down his waist to take his hand into her own.

"So Wraith?"

"I'm thinking so, well, based on that and the..." she started to stammer, Daniel stopping in the hallway to hold her, his hand slipping carefully behind her neck.

"You've never seen anything like that before, have you?" he asked the question to which he knew the answer, Adrienne nodding into his chest.

"Not in real life, and not that many. And I never realized how much is left even after you burn and the smell.." and she was crying again, Daniel holding her tightly, kissing her head.

"They've been there a while, but I'd read that the smell lingers and it did, it was so awful and poor Teyla. I'm not sure how we'll be able to identify them Daniel, but the thought of you being in there and Kanaan, he might, oh dear gawd..."

"Stop ja-wer," he whispered in her ear, lightly kissing her temple, "I'm right here and everyone needs to just step back, let Ronon do his job before we start jumping to conclusions. A very intelligent woman once told me that jumping to conclusions just makes you worry in advance about things you can't control."

"No fair using my own lectures against me," she countering, sucking in more tears, Daniel reaching his palm to her face.

"You're missing the positive side of this entire horror Ad," he said gently, Adrienne shrugging much like he himself would do.

"There's a positive?"

"If someone took the time to clean up the bodies and try to burn them, that means that someone lived. The Wraith would have left them," he answered simply, his thumb wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

Her jaw dropped; she hadn't thought of that, she'd done just what she used to accuse him of doing, only looking at the negative.

"He could be alive," Adrienne sputtered out, Daniel nodding.

"He was a leader. What if he led the attack back, saved who he could, burned the dead in the most respectful manner possible and escaped?"

Damn Daniel always being damn right.

Lately, anyway.

This is why she married this man, one of them always managed to be the other's rock, creating a give and take she hadn't really thought was part of real life.

"See," he continued, smiling down at her, "you didn't think of that did you? Now look who became the old sourpuss."

"I did not, well, not totally, but if I did it must be something else you, uh, transmitted to me," she teased before she could control herself, Daniel's cheeks reddening.

"Let's head down to the room, call over and check on Nicky before we get to the infirmary," he offered, reaching for her hand again, "there's someone out there. I know it."

Smiling, Adrienne took it, not caring that everyone saw her walking openly, hand in hand, with the leader of the city.

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Adrienne had insisted that they stay outside while Carson did the internal ultrasound despite Teyla's protests. Daniel knew that even with everything she had seen, she would always be a proper Southern girl and things like that just were not handled in public.

He found it endearing.

Instead, they waited outside, Daniel pulling his wife into his lap as he sat in the one chair situated in the main area, resting his head gently on her back. He couldn't help it, regardless of what he had bravely told Adrienne, the news of what had happened to the Athosians had upset him greatly and even he couldn't shake the thought of losing his own family and people the way that Teyla had lost hers. He felt so very helpless, wanting more than anything her touch and contact.

Please let it take, his heart pleaded, please let me get some good news.

The Genii had been as they expected, militant, confrontational, the first of his meetings with other worlds ending in the man, some General named Uthos who was related to the late General Cowen, informing him that he was too weak to run a city.

Yep, it had been a great day, all around.

Daniel didn't even care if the other doctors or nurses noticed as he ran his hand up his wife's tank top to rub her back. Let them talk; if anything he needed his rock right now and judging by the fierce pounding of her heart he could feel as he caressed her smooth skin, she could too.

"Carson says if this one doesn't take he's gonna probably have to make more embryos. I didn't realize it, but you implant more than one. I know I must have read that somewhere, but I was just too nervous to remember, I'm sorry sha," Adrienne whispered, leaning back against him, forcing him to slide his hand to her stomach.

"You, Adrienne Jackson, not research something to the hilt? Are you feeling well?" he joked, his wife elbowing him playfully.

"Well smartass, if we need more embryos, that means that you're gonna have to go entertain yourself in an exam room again," she joked back, Daniel burying his face in her shoulder.

"Don't remind me," he mumbled, Adrienne laughing as the door swung open in front of them, Daniel peering up, his heart pounding in his chest.

There was Teyla, Carson behind her, the Athosian woman lit up with a smile, the first time she had seen that expression from Teyla all day.

"It is my pleasure to inform you both that the gods are smiling on us this day, that in spite of death they are going to bring us life," she paused, sucking in a few tears, "we are going to have a baby," she announced.

This time both Adrienne and Daniel didn't even try to hide their emotions as they leapt from their seat, sheer joy on their faces.

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"Mom?" Nicholas Jackson called out into the dark, not wanting to look behind himself, back down the dark hall illuminated only by his nightlight. His mother, however, didn't answer and he could hear her breathing lightly, still asleep.

Taking a deep breath, as big as his tiny lungs would allow, Nicholas took another step closer to the foot of the bed to try a second time.

"Mom?"

Still no answer.

There was no way in hell that he was gonna go back to his room now.

Reaching for the foot of the bed, he grabbed the best he could, realizing only as he tried to pull his tiny body up onto the surface his left hand was holding onto his dad's ankle and not his mom's.

"Nicholas are you ok?" and there was Dad, looking right at him.

With Mom, it was much easier to be, well, a kid, but with Dad he just felt stupid. There wasn't any particular reason, his dad had never said anything to him to indicate he expected him to behave otherwise, but more than anything Nicholas just didn't want to disappoint him, to be less than he expected.

"I had a bad dream," he whispered, letting go and looking at the floor in embarrassment. There was shuffling, the foot moving away and there was a face in his, blue eyes sparkling in the light of the his mom's electronics.

"You know they're not real. Right?" was his father's response, Nicholas trying not to cry as he remembered the dream, his small dark eyes looking under his parent's bed, shivering with what might be lurking there.

"Yes," he replied, peeking back up at his father, "of course I do Dad but that doesn't mean the emotions surrounding them are any less intense."

_That's it Nicholas, make it scientific and then you don't sound like a baby..._

"Do you want to sleep with us?" his father asked instead, surprising him.

"Yeah..." Nicholas mumbled, diverting his eyes from underneath the bed.

There was more shuffling, hands reaching down for him, lifting him up onto the bed. He watched as his father pulled back the covers, his mom still out cold, clearing a place between them for him to sleep. Relieved, Nicholas started to crawl forward when he stopped, looking over at his dad, a small frown on his face.

"This feels weird," the boy whispered, looking down again.

"Why?"

"I dunno, because I'm not a baby."

His dad just laughed.

"Yes, you are. Advanced intellect or not, increased growth rate, whatever, you're not even one yet and if you were ten I wouldn't care. You're still my son and I love you."

Nicholas smiled. He heard his dad say that to his mom, a lot, but he really didn't say it that much to him. It wasn't that he thought his father didn't love him, he knew he did, but he guessed they just didn't say it much to each other because they were male.

Now, however, no one was around.

"I love you too Dad."

Without further argument he crawled into the space provided, letting his dad tuck the blanket around him.

"Better?" he asked as he lay down himself, still looking over at the boy.

"Yeah. I feel safer with you guys," the child whispered softly.

"I'm glad, that's part of our job."

Nicholas nodded, even though he wasn't sure if his father saw. He was just about to close his eyes when the dream came rushing back, making him turn his head in the dark.

"Dad?"

"Yeah."

_Just ask, Dad won't lie to you. He knows you're too smart for that. _

"Do you think Todd is gonna bring the Wraith?"

There was a pause, shivers running down his small spine.

"Doesn't matter if he does," the answer finally came, "Ronon's ready for him. We're ready for him."

Nicholas went to answer when he felt movement beside him and an arm, an arm reaching across his small body and coming to a rest across him, the hand holding onto his mom's bicep. Nestled safely between his parents, the small child let himself go back to sleep, visions of his dad blasting away the monsters dancing through his head.

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"Daniel!" a voice was shouting over the main loud speaker, not his communicator, the main loud speaker, a female voice, one who's life ambition was to never let him sleep.

"DANIEL!"

"Christ Vala what!?" he shouted back, the boy stirring beside him, his wife not moving in the least.

BIG surprise there.

"You need to get your ass down here," she demanded, Daniel sitting up in the bed, rubbing his face, a hand groggily looking for his glasses.

"Dad?" and now Nicholas was awake, the child's patterns a strange mix between he and Adrienne's, "What's going on?"

"Vala it's the middle of the god damn night. Is the base burning down?" he refrained from swearing any more in front of his son, swearing at himself inside for agreeing to let Vala work the night shift in his place from time to time.

"We have company," she answered smartly, " and you just need your ass out of bed, now!"

"Indy, what's going on? Why's Nicky in the bed? Is everything ok?" And now Adrienne was up, just proving that Vala had to have the intercom at full blast because nothing woke Adrienne up, Daniel noting it was a little after two in the morning.

"I had a bad dream, and Aunt Vala is screaming over the intercom," the child explained for his father, who was pushing his frames again up his face.

"Something's wrong, I need to get down there," he said as he got out of bed, Adrienne reaching protectively for Nicholas.

"Daniel you be careful," she ordered, her eyes darting between her husband and her child. She paused for a moment before she was hunting around for her communicator, shoving it to her ear.

"No, I'll call Jack, take Nicholas over there, let me come with you," she changed her mind, standing from the bed herself, tapping her ear.

"Ja-wer, it's a visitor..." Daniel tried to be discrete, knowing that any language that he spoke to his wife would be understood by the boy.

"Dad is it Todd?" Nicholas was still sitting in the bed, the blanket pulled to his chin, looking more childlike than normal.

"I have no idea, but I want both of you to stay here. Please."

Reading his face, Adrienne nodded, her hand drawing away from her communicator and her other arm closer to their son. Without further discussion, Daniel raced to the dresser, throwing jeans over his boxers and a t-shirt over his head, not even bothering with shoes.

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She couldn't explain it, but Teyla was compelled to get out of bed, even though Carson told her she needed as much sleep as possible in these early stages of pregnancy, but she stood anyway, walking to the door. It had been warm, the summer earlier here than on Earth and the Athosian choosing to go to bed with a fan blowing lightly and wearing very little. She didn't bother with a robe, she didn't bother with many clothes at all, gliding out of the door to her quarters in the thin sheer gown.

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Daniel had expected to see Todd standing there, after all, the news of his going to be a father again couldn't just last for one night, he couldn't get one night of happiness.

Instead, it was Lt. Davidson that greeted him, waiting outside of the main office, his main office, that never-failing stoic look on his face..

"Davidson do you sleep?" Daniel had to ask, halting his advance to the door.

"Not much sir," the young man answered quickly.

"Who's in there?"

"Miss Mal Doran and a man. Says he's Athosian and has been sent to speak with you," Davidson replied, Daniel frowning.

_Athosian? _

"Thanks, can you call down to Ronon, have his people run a sweep? I need to know immediately if this man came alone or if his vessel is bugged," Daniel added, turning the knob.

"Already done sir."

_Damn this kid is good..._

"Thanks, uh, do you mind hanging around in case Adrienne calls?" he asked the last thing he could think that he needed to take care of.

"Yes sir and if Dr. Jackson calls should I direct it to your office?"

Good question, Daniel wanted to say, because the chances of her calling were very high. pausing for a moment before shaking his head in the negative.

"No, just stall her until I know what's going on," Daniel ordered, the man looking concerned for the first time in this entire conversation.

He must have gotten the Cajun glare before.

"She's not as bad as she wants you to believe trust me," Daniel said with a smile, hoping he wasn't lying to the poor man. Adrienne was that bad when it came to him, the overprotective streak worked both ways in their marriage. His head tech nodded, Daniel opening the door to his office.

Sitting on his desk was Vala, legs crossed and looking thoroughly bored, not surprising, the scene itself an eerie flashback from his past. It wasn't Vala though that made him pause, as seated across from her was a tall man, caramel skin clad in what was clearly Athosian garb. He peered over his shoulder right at Daniel, standing quickly and stepping away from the chair.

"Greetings Dr. Jackson, I do not believe that we have met before but I am..."

"Kanaan..."

Daniel had forgotten to close the door behind him, a fact that he discovered the moment that Teyla burst in behind him, standing at his side with her eyes wide and her jaw open as though she had seen a ghost.

"Teyla..."

"If this is gonna get like Glasses and Addy then I'm out!" Vala declared, leaping from the desk to whisk herself from the room.

"I thought you to be dead," Teyla whispered, stepping forward as the man did the same, careful and cautious.

"As did I," he murmured, Daniel suddenly feeling very uncomfortable at the reunion, probably what his staff felt every time he and Adrienne were in the same room.

"Where have you been? What has happened to our people?" Teyla was asking when Daniel noticed she was practically naked, the white gown she was wearing made of a sheer fabric, making him turn away, trying to cover his eyes without being impolite.

"The Wraith, we held them off as long as possible but we were unable to for long. I took what was left of our village and we fled the planet," he explained, Teyla shaking her head in bewilderment.

"How? We left no ships."

Daniel wanted to hear the answer to this too, but Kanaan didn't answer verbally, directing his attention to Daniel instead, one hand holding his mate's for dead life.

"I believe this is for you," he said, passing over a piece of paper, tattered, torn, a fragment that looked as if it had come from the corner of a sketchpad but was balled up before use. Puzzled, Daniel unfolded the fragile sheet, pushing his glasses up his face as he squinted to read to jagged script.

_Whatever he tells you do not do as he asks. _

_What Ford has done is unnatural. _


	6. Chapter 6 - Reunion

Briefings in the wee hours of the morning...

Daniel should have been used to it, but there had been this small part of him the entire trip from Earth that believed his caravan of ships would arrive to some island paradise where he and Adrienne would spend their days together digging through the archaeological mysteries of the universe by day, playing with their son in the evenings and making love to one another on the beach at night.

How in the hell had he been so delusional?

"John," Daniel started as he entered, the table full, everyone present, including his wife, child and Jack, Adrienne being the only of the three that had any business in this room. As much as Daniel wanted Jack's input in this, he was also concerned that avoiding this kind of stress was the very reason Sam had moved them here in the first place, and that someone needed to be keeping Nicholas out of this mess.

"It's Todd's handwriting alright, I don't need to send it to an expert," the Colonel confirmed, Daniel indicating with his hand that anyone still standing take a seat.

"And that man is Kanaan?" Adrienne spoke up, her dark eyes shooting over at Nicholas, a look that Daniel didn't need to decipher.

_Assure him Dad that the bad guy is NOT here..._

"Yes, Jennifer's confirmed it's him; it's not a clone, and it's not a decoy. It's really Kanaan," Daniel explained, sitting down himself.

"Where's the Wraith?" Jack spoke up, John holding up that same piece of paper in his hand, waving it in the air.

"With Ford, according to Kanaan and he doesn't seem to be very happy about that."

"But what's wrong?" Sam was chiming in now, "Did Kanaan say?"

"Kanaan doesn't read English, he didn't understand the note, but he seems to have some reservations about Ford himself," Daniel replied, passing the scrap over to Sam. She took the slip of paper, scanning it carefully before handing it to Jack, Nicholas peering over his shoulder to read as well.

"So let me get this straight, Kanaan waltzes in here, back from the dead, brings a note, from a Wraith that STOLE a jumper and escaped, punching out your wife in the process, and we're supposed to drop everything and go meet with this Ford who according to Kanaan has gone completely OD batshit on Wraith enzyme, and even the WRAITH is sending secret messages saying this is a bad damn idea," Jack summarized Vala now nodding her head.

"And Daniel gave me lip about getting him out of bed for this," she added, receiving a glare from both adult Jacksons.

"Dad? What are you gonna do?" the boy chimed in and again all eyes were on him, Daniel taking a breath.

"Kanaan is with Teyla and Torren now, as he needs to be. I want to speak with him further before I make any decision. At this time we need to all be aware that there are hives ships that are still active, one of which is led by a former SG team member, who is, to the best of our knowledge, surviving on a high dosage of Wraith enzyme. I want the entire city at high alert and John, I want you to take your team to meet with the Genii, see what they know about Ford's activities. Other than the people in this room, I want no one to know what has happened until I have more information," Daniel ordered, Adrienne leaning back in her chair swallowing and breathing out slowly.

"You ok?" Sam leaned over to whisper, worried Daniel might have told her something further in confidence.

"She's fine," Vala hissed, rolling her eyes, "it just gets her hot when he goes all authoritative."

Adrienne just blushed.

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"He is still sleeping but I can wake him. He will be eager to see you," Teyla whispered softly as Kanaan entered what had been their quarters together so very long ago.

"No, I do not wish him to go without his rest," her lover insisted, Teyla unable to stop smiling.

He was here, he was alive and right now her world was just a little more complete.

"You look no different from when I saw you last," he added, his own face broken out into a gentle grin.

"Nor do you."

"Have you been well?" he asked now, so slowly and awkwardly. It was his way; he certainly would have worried as she had for so very long.

But he was here...

"Yes, we have fared well on Earth but I am glad to be home," she replied, Kanaan looking down in shame.

"However I have not kept a home for you to return to..." he muttered. Shaking her head, Teyla approached him, leading him to the bed to sit but he didn't come, instead pulling away, his eyes still on the floor.

"I am sorry Kanaan," Teyla said quickly, retracting her grasp, "I should have thought to ask if you took another mate..." but his eyes were on hers before she could utter another word.

"Never, I would never."

A surge of warmth radiated over her at the insistence of his words.

"Nor would I," she said as she reached out again, Kanaan letting her seat him.

"You did not couple with John?" his words were serious but Teyla could only laugh.

"No, he is and has remained my brother," she assured him, reaching her hand for his leg.

Teyla was unsure of the expression on his face, whether he was delighted, relieved or otherwise trapped in thought, but she didn't care either way, reaching for his face and bringing his lips to hers.

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"I need to talk to Cam," Daniel declared as soon as Nicholas was out of the room, leaving behind all of his most trusted advisors, his wife, Sam, all except for Jack, who had refused to allow Nicholas to stay. Truth be told, he wanted Jack here as well, but the man took his role as pseudo-uncle and caretaker seriously, walking right up to Daniel after the meeting was over to declare that this was no place for a child, joking it wasn't for an old man either.

He'd have to go see him later.

"I think that's a good idea," Sam agreed, standing to close the door in case anyone else should enter or hear. Daniel nodded, glancing over at Adrienne carefully.

"I need you to keep everyone busy. Keep Teyla in her quarters with Kanaan and for the love of god keep Vala's mouth shut," he ordered his wife who was already rolling her eyes.

"She's not that bad Daniel, stop," Adrienne fussed, her husband breathing out.

"I don't like that note," he admitted quietly, his blue eyes gazing back over at the scrap sitting on the table, a scrap John Sheppard had left behind even though it was clearly for him and not Daniel.

"I don't either, but I think we need to listen to it," Sam offered, Adrienne peering over at her in concern. He wanted Sam here, but also wanting to speak with Adrienne, alone, the one person who could read his face and his emotions like no other. Not that she would have a solution, if anything she was even more lost here in the Pegasus galaxy than she was at the SGC, but she would let him rage, whine, argue with himself, finally offering him a viewpoint that he may or may not take. It didn't matter, he had come to rely on her as his partner in life, and she appreciated it as he was hers as well.

"And that's my issue Sam, I think we should too because I read the file on Ford, I know what he did but he was a well-respected officer and I can't put stock into trusting a Wraith," Daniel argued, frustrated. This was so unlike the threat of Anubis as he had no idea who the real threat was, Ford, the Wraith, this one Wraith or something more sinister.

"I didn't either, but Todd's different."

"In that he let John give him a ridiculous name?" he spat again, breathing in before he could say something further. Unfazed Sam crossed her arms across her chest, ready to challenge.

"Daniel, look how easily he got out. Don't you think he would have gotten out sooner? Earth was a smorgasbord and he would have been the only predator. What motivated him now?"

"Indy, Sam's right, maybe he wanted to help us," Adrienne stepped forward now, a gentle touch at his arm.

"He could have KILLED you Ad," he redirected his rage at her, his wife retracting her arm almost immediately.

"But he didn't," she stood strong, giving him that look he had learned not to question, at least not in front of others.

Sighing out, Daniel rubbed bridge of his nose, the lack of sleep starting to take a toll on his body.

"Ok, I'm gonna head to the stone room. Tell Cam what I know and then make my way to Kanaan."

Neither woman said a word in response.

Taking that as agreement, he walked over to Adrienne, reaching for her chin to kiss her lips quickly in apology. Whispering an 'I love you' in her ear, because in this uncertain life with Adrienne he had vowed to never leave her presence without saying those words, Daniel exited the room, hoping to get a coffee before he headed over to the Destiny.

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"Alright munchkin, let's get you to bed..." Jack pointed at his own bunk, thinking this was best since Daniel and Dr. Perky would probably want to talk alone and would do so in their own quarters. If anything, the fact that Dr. Perky thought so much like he did, but was intelligent enough to offer a counter point, was enough of a reason for Jack to be very happy that Daniel didn't end up with Vala.

That would have been a mess.

"But it's almost seven in the morning," the boy reasoned, a part of Jack still stunned every time rational words came out of the mouth of such a tiny person.

"You've been up most of the night," the general pointed out.

"I'm not tired."

Jack made a face. And to balance it all out was the still childlike maturity the boy had as he sat there, pouting just like a little boy would. Nicholas didn't move, standing at the foot of the bed, crossing his minuscule arms and frowning like his father.

"And I'm not stupid, you took me out of there and Dad's talking to Mom and Aunt Sam right now about that man, and the Wraith and Lieutenant Ford. I've heard people talk about him, since Todd escaped, they say he went crazy."

"You're a nosey booger," Jack replied, mimicking the small tantrum happening in front of him.

"Did you forget who my dad was?" the boy answered with a smile.

"Nicky, listen, I know you understand things, more than a child should, but sometimes, no matter how much you want to be grown..." Jack sighed, taking a seat on the bed, hoping the child would know that he was not trying to argue with him, that he just cared about his well-being.

"Uncle Jack, I don't want to be grown," the boy stammered out, real fear in his face,"I just wanna be safe."

It broke his heart to hear Nicholas' words. The poor guy had never known a normal life and being born into all of this he most likely never would.

"I know Nicky. Trust me the entire reason your dad went all super general nerd up there was because of you. He's not gonna let anything happen to you or your mom," Jack added the last part, lest the boy have something else to worry about.

Uncrossing his tiny arms, Nicholas Jackson reached out for assistance, the general extending his arms to help the boy up. The child crawled on his hands and knees, all the way up to Sam's side of the bed, leaning back on the pillow.

"I'm still not tired," he protested.

"Fine, let's work on your party, come up with some stuff to do that's not lame."

"Mom'll make it cool," Nicholas defended, Jack laughing.

"And you forget who she's married to. I'm surprised that she got your father to do anything she's gotten him to do in the past few years," Jack joked, a bright grin across the boy's face.

"You think the theme's ok?" he now asked, Jack only able to hope that meant Nicholas had really moved on from his worry and wasn't just trying to placate Jack with talks of his the upcoming birthday party that they had helped plan with his father the day before.

"I think it's fantastic," Jack answered as he reached for the remote to start a DVD, something else to make the boy relax.

You haven't read the book, have you?"

Jack halted his finger, unable to laugh, shaking his head as he looked over at the boy.

"Not a page," he admitted, finally.

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There was something different about her, not just in the way she moved or acted, but in her face. He knew she was delighted to see him, her kisses and her gentle caresses were proof of that, but there was a sparkle in her eye that did she think him dead should not have been there. He watched her glide from the bed to get clothing, the base's temperature cool as he lay on her bed aching to be with her once more.

"Torren will awaken soon and we can get breakfast together in the commissary," she uttered over her shoulder. Paradise, it was all paradise, his family was again whole.

"That would be wonderful," he replied, reaching out his hands, "I want us all to be together once more."

"As do I," she whispered and was at his side again, taking a seat beside him.

"I hope that this Dr. Jackson is able to create a compromise between the city and the hive. They did save us," he noted, Teyla nodding in reply.

"He will. He's a good man; more like Sam than Mr. Woolsey," she explained.

"I remember Sam, she is here again, I saw her, but she is not the leader."

"No," Teyla shook her head, "it is a long story. And as for Mr. Woolsey, he has passed from our existence."

Kanaan paused, gazing into her eyes. So much had happened, in his absence, he could tell, so many things he wanted to ask her about but now was not the time. Still, as he ran his thumb across her lips gently, tracing the grin that was on her face, he could tell that there was something...

"Many of our people died," he said before he could stop himself, Teyla reaching to push his hand away and take it in her own.

"I saw the village..."

"Very few remain, but with Atlantis back we can start to rebuild, to reclaim the pride of the Athosian people," Kanaan continued, a brightness in her eyes at his words.

"That is what I wish as well..."

"I had hoped. As soon as relations are once again established we will need to begin to restore the population," he ventured carefully, thinking that after their long awaited encounter and her insistence on seeing Torren again that she would not have the expression on her face that he was now seeing. She didn't seem shocked, however, but she was smiling, strangely.

"I agree, but we my love must wait," she said softly, a hand on his knee. He felt bad for his presumption, he had just now arrived, he didn't know what was going to come of this meeting that Ford was requesting, he didn't know when he would have to leave and here he was suggesting that Teyla plan to give him another child...

"I apologize for my haste, it has just been so long and I wish you to be at my side, to fight with me, to bear my children and I have dreamed of the moment when I would see you again."

"As have I," she began, bringing her hand to his cheek, "but we must wait until I bear one child before I am to bear another."

Kanaan was floored.

What did she mean bear a child?

Smiling again, reading his mind, Teyla reached forward, taking his hand again and bringing it to her abdomen.

'The soul is young, as is the body, but it is there."

"I do not understand," Kanaan said, leaving his hand there nonetheless, "you said that you did not take another mate."

"I did not," she began, that look of tranquility on her face that she got when she had a vision, a feeling, when he needed to listen to her, "this is Dr. Jackson's child, Daniel and Adrienne's. I have offered to give them what they themselves cannot have."

"You are their carrier?"

"Yes I am."

Kannan dropped to silence again, pulling his hand away.

It didn't make any sense at all. From what Todd had told them it had barely been four cycles of the moon since they had arrived back on the planet and Teyla herself admitted to finding the burnt bodies of their people.

Was she not looking for him?

Had she given up on their people and moved on?

In the face of the loss of everything in her life, everything but Torren, why had she volunteered for such a thing?

"But why Teyla, I do not understand..."

"Kanaan, this child will be the first child of Atlantis. He or she is a product of a Terran woman, of a man descended from the Ancestors themselves, carried by an Athosian. What better way to demonstrate the unity that this city can provide than for the first life to be created here be a blend of the three peoples who will shape its future?"

He still didn't speak, Teyla slipping closer to him, touching their foreheads lightly.

"I never knew if I would see our people again. I never knew if I would be coming back to my home or to nothing. But I did know that there is one thing that can heal all, hope. In a broken world, children are our hope. Torren, Nicholas and this child. It is a beginning but if Ford has done what you say he has done, if the hives are down to nothing, this city can help heal the galaxy."

"Then this was something you considered, for a while," he know pondered, Teyla smiling gently.

"The decision was hurried but only because my heart knew what I needed to do before I could put it into words," she admitted, Kanaan reaching out for her once more when there was a sound behind him, making him turn.

"Torren," Teyla introduced, feeling the emotions wafting from the boy, "I am not sure if you remember, but this is your father."

Kanaan didn't wish to appear weak but the moment he laid eyes on the tall boy standing in front of him, he just let the tears flow freely.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"It really is Ford, dammit," Cam sighed out at the table, shaking the very beautiful head he was borrowing. Daniel himself had jumped into Scott, thankfully, he was worried in a snap decision he would get Rush, but he hadn't, and he was thankful the young disciplined military man would be sitting in his office instead, with no inclination to snoop.

"It is, even Kanaan confirms it," Daniel agreed, watching Cameron's mannerisms go on in Camille Wray's body, "and I trust him."

"And that's all you have?" the general asked and Daniel wished he had more, but he also hadn't wanted to wait before reporting to command.

"For now, I let him go with Teyla, I thought it was best he spent some time with her first."

"Personal experience?" his old friend teased.

"Not at all," Daniel smiled, knowing it was a decision that any other commander might not have agreed with, "in fact, I plan on going to meet with him as soon as I get back. Honestly, it was the middle of the night and I had to drag my entire senior staff into the briefing room before rumors of Todd's return in the stolen jumper started making their way around the city."

"No, I agree, that was probably the best course of action," Cam replied, his hand to his chin, her chin, whatever, "there is something else we need to talk about..."

"Oh?" Daniel asked, watching dark eyes roll in the head in front of him.

"The, uh, well, IOA, don't worry they're a lot better lately, but they're insisting that now that you have Sam with you, and Rodney, that they want to try to repair and reactivate the gate bridge," the words came across Camille's lips as Daniel's head fell into his hands.

"When?"

"Now."

"And I thought I didn't sleep when Nicholas was an infant," Daniel said from Scott's hand, Cam laughing in reply.

"Speaking of, how are the little booger and Addy?"

Gotta throw that last one in there, don't you Cam...

"They're good. Jack's taken it upon himself to be Nicholas' mentor, which I have yet to decide is a good or bad thing and Adrienne is turning my city into her own personal fantasy land," Daniel laughed.

"So, pretty much what you expected?"

"Pretty much," Daniel agreed, "and command?"

"Remember when I said I hated pushing paper?"

"Yeah."

"Still do, but the raise was nice," Cam admitted, Daniel laughing in return. Yeah, that was a perk, even though he really would never get a chance to spend it much here in the Pegasus.

Although, if the gate bridge was operational, he was sure Adrienne would find a way.

Correction, VALA would find a way, just dragging Adrienne along for the ride and the bankroll.

Daniel was about to ask about the rest of the team, how Jonas was handling leadership, when he saw the body in front of him change, Cameron's expression leaving the smooth face.

"Daniel?" Camille asked, the Atlantis commander nodding in reply, starting to think the gate bridge being put back into place would be a great idea given that he would actually like to carry on a conversation with someone on Earth face to face rather than through this very convoluted method.

"Yeah, still me," he confirmed, knowing that the rules of Atlantis/Destiny communication meant that he would have to break the connection and not the other way around.

"Good," she whispered as she leaned in, "I need to ask you something."

Daniel frowned, looking around himself wondering what was causing this reaction in the bureaucrat.

"What does cruvus deductavum mean?"

It was crude, sure, and it didn't sound like any Ancient that would be something written on the any of the panels on the ship, making him wonder why she was asking such as question.

"Daniel, is it bad?" Camille asked now, her eyes darting around the room.

"Where did you read that?" although he was starting to run through his own head the names of places that might have those words, maybe their cafeteria, instructions for the cooks, maybe the infirmary for quarantine, but it was the word order that troubled him, a declaration in this instance.

There had to be missing context.

"From Chloe Armstrong," she said as she sat back, breathing in deeply, "before she lapsed back into a coma. She blasted everyone back, nearly gave Colonel Young a concussion before screaming that out and falling unconscious."

"And she said nothing else?"

"No," Camille shook her head, "what does it mean?"

"Separate, in other context the words mean 'wrong' and 'taken away'," Daniel answered, his mind already back in his lab, back in his wife's lab, looking for more information, "but together, with nothing else it is more of a declaration. In this sense it means 'What is wrong, or ill, or sick, depends again on context, must be taken away."

He paused, his hand reaching for the stone at his side, looking up to Camille before he made the switch.

"I wouldn't worry. Remember we all started as Ancients, and the Nakai have activated parts of her brain that haven't been utilized in humans in thousands of years. It could just residual from that process," he replied, touching the cool surface before she could ask him any further questions.

Because there was one thing on Dr. Daniel Jackson's mind as he returned to his office, and that thought was what exactly did Chloe Armstrong think needed to be taken away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

The hologram stood facing her, still babbling, happily muted because she was finished listening to it. Adrienne had spent most of her morning since Kanaan's arrival in the lab, trying to busy herself with the DATA system and get the classroom projector to start carrying the image of the false android. She was still stuck, however, on the upload of the Asgard language. The original Ancient programming that she and Sam were attempting to override to add in the data of things they had learned kept taking the symbols and turning them into Ancient, making Adrienne want to beat her head in.

"Your boyfriend asked about you," a voice in her ear buzzed making her smile.

"He did, did he?" she teased back, standing from her console to enjoy at the very least his voice. He sounded better, calmer, and Adrienne hoped her good buddy had been able to offer some sort of advice.

"I told him that you've become quite the little woman, baking for me, keeping our suite so neat and tidy, rubbing my feet after work," he said, chuckling in her ear, making her feel much better.

"He's dating Carolyn," Adrienne said before Daniel could tease her any further, the laughter halting automatically.

"What? Since when?"

"Since around the time Nicky was born," she answered.

"Huh..." Daniel muttered from the other end, apparently confused, "I had no idea..."

"Indy, you can be so dense at times," Adrienne joked, sitting back in her chair, "What did he say about Kanaan?"

"Not much to say," he answered, and she heard him walking, presumably to speak to that very individual, "just wants me to keep them abreast..."

Liar, Adrienne thought, there's something else, but maybe he was just waiting until they were alone. He did that a lot here, much more than he had back on Earth, and their pillow talk on Atlantis had taken on an entirely new meaning.

They discussed work in bed and had sex in his office.

Because that made so much sense.

"Ok, well I'm gonna be here for a while, unless I just give up and steal Nicholas away to watch a movie or something."

Silence, that was his response, pure silence and Adrienne was back to worrying. He didn't know she did it, but she had made sure that her own console could track his location by his communicator. Flipping her own page aside, Adrienne tapped her tracking program icon, seeing that he was indeed on the way to Teyla's quarters.

"Don't overdo it ja-wer. I have no idea how long this is gonna take and I don't wanna catch you face on keyboard," and he was back to joking, but it was forced; she knew him and she knew his voice.

Yeah, they really needed to talk tonight.

"I love you Daniel."

"I love you too," he said without hesitation, clearing his throat quickly, "keep the private line open."

Concerned, Adrienne did as he asked, setting her 'husband tracker' to alert her for if and when he left the housing sector.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Kanaan was sitting at Teyla's desk as if he were waiting on him, and given that Teyla herself and the boy were gone, Daniel was pretty sure that he was.

"Thank you for that time this morning," the Athosian said in greeting as Daniel entered the room.

"Sure. I would have wanted the same," he answered honestly, walking over to take the second chair at the small surface.

"Torren has grown so much and I missed it. I missed his life," the regret in his voice was clear, regret that Daniel understood. There were days, many days in fact, that he found himself sneaking to sit with Jack and Nicholas on the balcony of their quarters or made sure a meeting was after dinner so he could eat with his wife and child.

"But you don't have to miss any more of it," the commander noted, pulling out the chair to take a seat.

"This was a visit, not a homecoming," Kanaan uttered sadly, Daniel not saying a word, instead cueing up his tablet to take notes if needed.

"I hate to make you live through this again, but I need to know what happened. To the Athosians, the Wraith, any information that you may have..." before I open up a direct line to Earth again... he added the last part internally, his eyes scanning the screen where he was already sending a message to Sam that she needed to meet him in his lab in two hours' time.

"There were hives left, as I am sure you knew. They lacked organization and purpose and their focus was on feeding and feeding alone. They attacked the village in broad daylight, no warning, everyone was working, tending to their tasks. Most did not survive," the man paused, swallowing hard.

"How many?" Daniel hated to ask, but he had to know, he had to know before he sent Vala, John and Ronon back to the mainland to try to determine what was left of the bodies.

"We number twenty two now."

Daniel fought the urge to drop the tablet on the table.

Twenty two?

"And all of those twenty two are on Ford's ship?" he asked instead in follow-up.

"Yes."

His face was strong, but he was tired Daniel could tell; tired of running, of fighting. He'd have to lead this conversation, and make it feel like that, a conversation and not an interrogation.

"When Ford found us, he said that what we had experienced was similar to what was going on on other planets. He told us that he had taken a hive, and not just taken the hive, but convinced some Wraith to fight with him, to restore order to the galaxy. He seemed genuine and we had nowhere to go," and now the Athosian man was explaining himself and he didn't need to; in his position Daniel would have probably done the same.

"Understandable."

Kanaan nodded, "At first, Ford tried to use his people, the other young people using the enzyme, to start wars between existing hives. Any Wraith on his own vessel that helped were rewarded with the humans stored on conquered vessels..." and he trailed.

Daniel didn't say a word.

"It was wrong," the man continued, "I know, but you must understand I did what kept my people alive. He never touched us, threatened us, he never once made me feel as if the Athosians were anything other than friends. We have been running basic ship operations, we have never engaged in the fighting directly, we have never killed another."

"No one is accusing you of that Kanaan, no one. You did what you needed to do for your people to survive," Daniel assured him, shoving the tablet aside.

Notes could wait.

"It seems that Ford's plan has succeeded, to an extent. There have been fewer attacks, but we still find refugees. Some come aboard and join us and others refuse to leave their homeworld."

More than ever Daniel wanted on that ship, making a mental note to have Adrienne create a compact list on all of the planets visited by the original team in case Kanaan could give him further information as to the civilizations that they had encountered..

How many people had been lost?

"And Ford himself?" Daniel asked, the chilling description that John had given him about his behavior being the Atlantis member's next concern.

"If you are inquiring about his enzyme usage, he is still as far as we know. Fortunately it seems to only be those in his original group. He has his own Wraith bring him the bodies of any fellow Wraith they kill to harvest the enzyme," he choked out, pausing again, "a few of my people have learned that part of the process I have to admit."

It was an entire organized operation. This young man, who despite John's protest had been listed as 'Killed in Action', had managed to take the power vacuum that Anubis himself was trying to travel here to exploit and create himself a small army.

What kind of insanity had he brought his family into?

"What does he want from us?" the only question that was left to ask. As much of a happy reunion as it had been with Teyla, it was clear to Daniel that Kanaan had been sent here for a reason otherwise it would have been the entire contingent of that what left of Athos sent along with him.

"He simply said that he wishes to meet with you to discuss the future of the galaxy," Kanaan's answer was honest, Daniel could tell and most likely was kept cryptic for this very purpose. He nodded, rubbing his face, his thoughts swirling through his head.

What future did Ford envision?

Did it include Atlantis?

With who in charge of what?

"Thank you Kanaan," Daniel said, standing, wanting to get down to his wife's lab, start pulling those charts, send teams to any allies that they hadn't contacted...

"Dr. Jackson?" Kanaan said from behind him, Daniel peering back to face him.

"Daniel, please," he corrected quickly.

"May your children be strong," he declared, "both of them."

Daniel smiled; Teyla must have told him.

"And yours as well," he replied, shouldering the bag as he headed out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX***

"Hey Sam," Adrienne asked across the lab, the scientist buried in a program of her own. Sam had her own lab, Daniel made sure of that, but since the two women were working together on this informational system, Sam spent most of her time here, where the Asgard database and other SGC information was being stored. It made uploading easier, that is, when the uploads would cooperate.

"Just a sec," she said, a finger in the air Adrienne, peering back at her screen. It was such an odd glitch and she was certain that her programming had been correct, but she had been up since three this morning and coffee could only do so much. She set her fingers to the keys again, recoding, resetting, debating on calling Daniel in case she had mistranslated the instructions on uploading from the control panel, which was still entirely in Ancient. She was just about to call him, she had left the line between them open just in case, when Sam was at her side, gazing at the controls.

"That should let the image behave independently at each site it is called up at," she declared, trying to move on to the next problem, "what's up?"

"I'm back on importing the Asgard database items into the main language system, I decided to wait on planet information to see if uploading the dictionary word by word would work, but I keep getting kickback," Adrienne explained, pulling her own tablet to her side.

"Kickback?"

"Yeah," the archaeologist continued, her face drawn into a frown, "and it's just on a few words here..." more tapping until Adrienne was showing Sam a few sets of runes, their symbols lining up as she asked, "and it's not the written language, it's the English translation."

"How so?"

"This word, 'kvikr', it's old norse, well Asgard, it means alive. But for some reason when I enter the English translation it keeps spitting out the Ancient word 'cruvus'," Adrienne said as she pointed, Sam shaking her head.

"And what does that mean?" she asked, Adrienne frowning again.

"Wrong, among other things, it's complicated," she breathed out, "I think it's an error message, like I did the wrong thing, but I just can't figure out what..."

"What does the manual say?" Sam now inquired, pulling up her own copy on her tablet.

"Nothing about an error message, but usually that's a given in programming, it wouldn't have really been mentioned. I mean you know that's just not typical," Adrienne replied.

"No, you're right. Maybe it's the conversion; maybe the system itself is older than Ancient/Asgard interaction and it doesn't recognize the text."

"Either that," Adrienne somewhat agreed, "or I've screwed up translating flipping back and forth too much. I'm gonna call Daniel..." she reached for her ear, "Sha?"

She stood there waiting, but there was nothing.

"Oh Indy, it's your loving and faithful wife who's gonna launch priceless Ancient electronics out the window if you don't answer..."

Sam was now looking at her.

"No answer, that's weird," Adrienne frowned, hurrying over to her desk and her husband tracker.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Jennifer?" she heard her name being called, peeking over her shoulder to see Daniel standing in the doorway of her office, a frown on his face.

"Hey there, everything alright?" she stood, wondering if he was feeling ill but he was shaking his head already as if he anticipated the worry.

"I'm fine, but I need you to do me a favor. Quietly. I need you to head over to the Destiny and examine Chloe Armstrong, talk to TJ unless she's on switch duty and report to me just as soon as you get back."

"What's going on?" she asked, the worry back.

"I'm not sure yet, but she's apparently slipped into a coma again," Daniel replied carefully, deciding at the last minute not to mention any else that had happened to Chloe before she went under.

"Ok," Dr. Keller was quiet but stood, packing up what she had been working on to do as he asked.

"Thanks, and I need a report back on her condition as soon as you have something. No matter what time it is or anything, find me," he added, Jennifer nodding in understanding.

Now to Adrienne, he thought, tapping his ear when there was a voice already in it.

"Daniel, the last supply run shorted me the cables I was going to use as a prototype for the recreation of the fiber -"

"Thanks again, and remember, no matter the hour," he said to the doctor, rolling his eyes as he headed for Rodney McKay's lab, hoping he might get to see his wife before tonight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Seeing Adrienne before bed; what a novel idea...

"Good night little guy!" Daniel shouted over his shoulder, Adrienne smiling from the bed.

"It's sweet," she whispered as she pulled back the blanket, Daniel climbing in beside her.

"What?" he said as he set his glasses on the side table.

"How he wants you to tuck him in at night, read to him even though he can read himself."

"He wants you too," Daniel argued, Adrienne still smiling softly.

"Yeah, but he's your boy for sure. No mama's boy worries at all," she replied, getting a shrug in return as he laid down, the beautiful Cajun woman in his bed, their bed, crawling right onto him, burying herself into his chest.

"Mine now," she declared from his body, nuzzling impossibly closer.

"My aren't we possessive tonight," he had to tease; sure Adrienne was affectionate, but never could one say that she was clingy or needy, yet right now she was behaving very out of character, holding on to him like she hadn't in a very long while.

"Just a touch. There are just some times that I just want you and with you being commander and a father I have to share you. I didn't realize how jealous I would get," she whispered, kissing his chest through his shirt. He held her closer, himself not wanting to ever let go.

"I moved to the lab next door for day to day operations," he pointed out, even though he hadn't even unlocked the door to that very room all day.

"Yeah, I kinda love it, when you are actually in there," she joked, rubbing her cheek to him, "I wanna touch your skin."

He had to admit he loved when she was like this, and made sure to take advantage of it, Pushing her aside gently he sat up, pulling his t-shirt over his head and throwing it over to the side, lying back down to fulfill her request.

"Better?"

"Much," she whispered, kissing him again, her soft lips tickling his upper abdomen, "Are you gonna meet with Ford?"

That's where this was all coming from, Adrienne didn't want to be affectionate or intimate, she was sharing his thoughts, his worry, probably wondering as he was about what was going to happen to them.

"I don't know yet," he didn't lie to her, she deserved better than that. She was quiet, cuddling and kissing again, her arm wrapping tightly across him.

"Daniel?" she whispered as he was closing his eyes, opening them again to peer down at her.

"What?"

"At the risk of sounding naive, especially after everything I've seen, why does this happen? How does someone become evil? I just can't believe that someone is born like that..." she trailed at the end, as unsure of her words as he was of his answer.

How did someone become evil?

Was Ford really that bad of a person or was there something else that Daniel just didn't understand?

"I have no idea ja-wer. I wish I did," he muttered, kissing her head and reaching back around to hold her but she was pulling away, sitting and looking back down at him.

"Sha, I think we need to have Ronon start training people again. Not like he and I and John and Teyla just go work out, but mandatory training," she said, awake, her brain already kicking into problem solving mode, refusing to let her worry and sulking last any longer.

This was why he loved her so much.

"That's not a bad idea Ad," he answered, glancing over to see if his tablet was accessible.

"It's not that I want to give him more to do, but I don't think we can just pretend we flew into some paradise where sunburn is our biggest issue," she added, Daniel nodding as he reached for her hands. Once again, they were on the same wavelength.

"He won't mind and it'll give Vala something to do. She's not on the level with you crazy people and your masochist martial arts mess but she can instruct the non-military personnel," he agreed, his wife lying back down, almost making it back to his waiting torso when she was up again, something else on her mind.

"Are we still gonna have Nicky's birthday party?"

He laughed now, he couldn't help it, even it if earned him her infamous glare.

"I love the things you worry about. Do you ever just relax?" he replied, trying to reach for her to bring her back against him, calm her mile a minute mind. She came, but she was still yammering on as she scooted back against him.

"Like you have room to talk, did we EVER sleep when we first became friends? It's just, his life is so abnormal as it is, I want something to be normal. I want Nicky to have a childhood, he deserves that, high IQ or not."

"I know ja-wer," and she was down, Daniel rolling to his side to curl his body around hers, "I know and he does. We read to him, we play with him, and both of us stop him when he tries to act too adult. We're not alone either, he has us and Sam, Jack, Vala, Dex, everyone; he has a family, a real, huge, and somewhat insane family. Yes, we're gonna have his party, I'm still gonna let him pie Jack in the face and I want you to take pictures."

"Good," she sighed out, "I need something to go right. DATA was pissing me off today, kept giving me this error message. I tried to call you but YOU didn't answer."

"It wasn't intentional. I met with Kanaan and had to swing by the infirmary to get Jen to head over to Destiny and then Rodney called and once I told him Cam wants to repair the gate bridge, well, there was no getting out of there," Daniel rambled, rolling his eyes in the dark.

"What's happening on the Destiny?" Adrienne was wiggling away again, Daniel holding her so she couldn't escape, his wife giggling at his persistence.

"Chloe's in a coma again, and she was screaming in Ancient, I just wanted Jennifer to take a look and see what was going on, which is apparently nothing according to Jennifer, just some odd behavior," he muttered in her ear.

"In Ancient? What was she screaming?"

"That's what was so weird, it made no sense, 'cruvus deductavum'..." Daniel was explaining when Adrienne escaped his embrace, sitting up, staring at him again, her mouth ajar.

"I got that today too!"

"What do you mean?" Daniel sat himself now, screwing up his face in confusion.

"DATA, he kept giving that message, well the 'cruvus'..."

"Why?" Daniel interrupted, the questions pouring across his lips, "When? What happened? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was doing it when I was trying to input basic Asgard into the system. I tried called you but it was only doing that with the Asgard pieces. Sam and I figured it was an error message of sorts. There was really no other reason as to why it would be doing that," Adrienne explained, crossing her legs yoga style watching his face he was certain. He paused, thinking about what Camille had said and to be honest, with the ship's history of taking on the memories of its passengers, that made sense. It was very possible that these enhancements that Chloe Armstrong was experiencing were causing her to tap into the ship, an electronic 'error' message being at least plausible.

"I didn't even think about that, but with what Rush has been trying to hack in to..." he admitted lying back down, "That makes sense though and we've never really had to opportunity to do that much with these Ancient technologies on full power and without being attacked on a regular basis..." and there he was, making mental notes that he needed to look into this first thing tomorrow morning...

"Ok, Indy, this is nuts," Adrienne said as she threw her hands into the air, crawling back under the covers and over to him, "I'm making a declaration."

"What exactly are you declaring?" he asked, pulling her into his arms the moment he saw the look on her face.

"No more work talk in bed. Fin, done, it's over, got it?"

"Then where are we gonna talk about work?" he teased, his wife making a face at him.

"In your office like normal colleagues," she said with a smile, but he was rolling onto his side already...

"And what are we gonna do here?" he murmured softly, though his lips were at her collarbone already, kissing slowly, his hands slipping under the blankets as she whispered in his ear.

Yeah, that's a much better idea, he thought, as he reached to fulfill her request.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX*

Daniel lay in bed staring at the ceiling, Adrienne's arm still draped around his waist. She'd been asleep for at least two hours, Nicky not stirring either as Daniel debated getting up. He was too preoccupied, his thoughts the moment Adrienne had fallen asleep back on Kanaan, Aiden Ford and Todd.

He wasn't sure what to do.

Yes, Lieutenant Aiden Ford was an SGC member, well, former SGC member, but regardless he was also what amounted to a drug addict, leading a Wraith hive and waging war across the galaxy. Granted, the Athosians were with him, and he knew that Kanaan was a man to be trusted, but something didn't sit right with any of it.

There was the fact that Todd had gone straight there, after stealing a jumper and attacking some of his crew and his wife.

The fact that Kanaan was sent to more or less fetch him for this meeting about the future of the Pegasus rather than Ford coming here himself.

It was the fact that the Wraith had seemingly flipped sides again, sending a note Daniel was certain was meant for John Sheppard.

He took a moment to gaze over at Adrienne, so still, her hair still slightly mussed from their earlier love making. As carefully as possible, Daniel slipped from underneath her loose grasp, collecting her t-shirt from the floor to slip it back over her head. Careful, who was he kidding, he could get her completely dressed and she wouldn't move an inch, he pulled her arms through the sleeves, stuffing his pillow where he was before quietly letting himself out of the bedroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Let's stay in bed all day..." Adrienne mumbled, squeezing Daniel tightly...

...except Daniel wasn't there. Shoved in his place was a pillow, her husband nowhere to been seen.

"Indy?" she asked, her eyes scanning around as she tried to figure out what time it was and where he had gone. There were no clothes on the floor, and she remembered his throwing most of their clothes right there, and as she sat she realized that she was wearing the oversized t-shirt she had gone to bed in.

"Daniel?" she stood, tiptoeing to the shower, the watch reading that it was nearly seven in the morning, so he might be in there.

He wasn't.

"Mom?"

And now Nicky was up.

Where in the hell was Daniel?

"Be right there," Adrienne shouted back, knowing full well that Nicholas was going to just get himself up anyway, but regardless she wanted to know where his father was since it was very un-Daniel to just leave without waking her, leaving a note, something, anything. Hell, he didn't even just leave when they were friends and would fall asleep at her apartment while watching movies.

"Dr. Jackson?" she heard her name being called above, the voice over the room speaker echoing against the cool stone floor.

"Yes?" it took a second, pre-coffee and sans-spouse to register that it was Lieutenant Davidson, Daniel's "assistant" calling.

"Dr. Jackson, well, your husband says that he would like for you to come down to the briefing room at 0800 and to bring your son as well," he requested, Adrienne frowning. That gave her less than an hour to shower, eat, get dressed, get Nicholas ready to go to Jack's provided that Jack was up because either she or Daniel usually dropped the boy off after breakfast which was at nine or sometimes later...

"Wait, bring Nicholas? In less than an hour?" Adrienne rubbed her face hearing a thud and another 'Mom' from the next room.

"Yes ma'am, to me. Dr. Jackson has called a meeting of all level one officials, including both of the Generals O'Neill."

Wait? Jack? Retired I don't want any more of this shit just let me fish and goof off with the boy Jack?

What in the hell was going on this morning?

"Alright, thanks, can you please tell Daniel to call me if he gets a chance?" she asked, wanting to talk to him in private before this supposed last minute meeting.

"I will relay the message ma'am," and the transmission ended, leaving Adrienne, standing in her room in an oversized shirt, her son staring at her from the doorway.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he tried to joke, Adrienne shaking her head.

"No lie shug, no lie."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming, again, to a briefing I don't think any of us want to have," Daniel started in, not taking a seat this time, standing at the head of the table, "I think it's safe to say that we know where the Wraith are, or what's left of them. I find Kanaan's information to be reliable and it supports what information Ronon and I have been able to collect from our allies..."

"Allies?" Jack asked, Adrienne knowing about whom her husband was talking and she didn't like it already.

This was why they shouldn't talk shop in bed.

"The Genaii," Daniel answered, John Sheppard practically falling out of his chair. Adrienne knew that too, for some reason Daniel had decided to keep his meeting with the Genaii quiet, other than tell her of course, and given John's history with those people it was probably a wise choice until Daniel understood their current leadership structure a little bit better.

"Yes, I gated to their planet and met with the Genaii early this morning to discuss the situation..."

And that explained why Adrienne had woken up alone then; Daniel wasn't even in the city...

"Wait," John raised his hand, sitting forward at the table, "you met with them?"

"Yes," Daniel replied, addressing John first and then the group, "And General Uthos has agreed to broker negotiations on their world between myself and Aiden Ford."

"Excuse me, Daniel, I know that you prefer to read, I dunno, dusty shit, carved onto walls, but did you read the file on this? Get Dr. Perky to load it onto your pretty little toy there? The last time we had contact with the Genii they tried to KILL US," Jack reminded, John nodding in agreement as Adrienne was shaking her head.

"Yes Jack, I'm aware. I am also aware of the fact that the leader of that faction was killed during the siege on this city and that currently leadership now rests with our former allies, allies I think we can all agree we need right now."

"Daniel, I can provide a security detail," Ronon offered, Adrienne now glaring at him, her mouth still ajar.

What was happening?

"I was hoping so Ronon and I'd like for you to stay back so we can discuss that," Daniel answered, looking back to the group again, "Kanaan will leave as soon as I can speak with him to inform Lieutenant Ford of our arrangement. Vala I'd like you to accompany him as our envoy and essentially our spy."

"Got it covered," Vala said as she kicked her feet onto the table top, leaning back in her chair.

"Take my gun," Ronon was placing the weapon on the table, Adrienne glancing at Teyla who didn't seem to be upset in the least, her husband ripped from her again less than twenty four hours after arriving.

So that was his solution?

Meet with what was clearly a threat, on the home world of a race that had tried to take the city and kill every person inside, while sending one of her dearest friends possibly to her death.

"Daniel," John spoke, shaking his head, "I think we need to wait, maybe see if Rodney can find a way to contact the hive via some subspace channel. Todd said..."

"I don't care what Todd said," Daniel hissed, "if we ignore Ford's request and choose NOT to meet with him who's to say he won't attack the city immediately."

"We have charged ZPMs," Ronon spoke up, "and good shields."

"My people would not allow an attack on the city," Teyla countered.

"We don't negotiate with terrorists," Jack spat.

"Wait just a damn second!" Adrienne shouted out before she could control herself, Daniel finally acknowledging his wife's presence.

"Daniel," she said, using his real name so he knew she was serious, "this is a bad idea."

"And you have a better one?" he shot back, Adrienne glaring across the table at him.

"How about we let Kanaan stay with his family, do what John said, send a signal to the hive, agreeing to meet them in space?"

"So are you suggesting we keep a hostage and risk a shoot-out in open space in the very reliable fleet of jumpers we're in possession of?" his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We have the Daniel Jackson," she pointed out.

"Which is an unarmed science vessel," Daniel replied.

"Whose gah damn cooyon idea was dat?"

"That's what I said!" Jack agreed.

"Den bring 'em 'ere; Ronon said dat we've got da shields and we've gah personal shields," Adrienne was standing, she didn't realize she was standing, Daniel leaning past a confused Sam who was sitting beside him glaring right at her.

"For the entire base? Has Rodney been developing something I wasn't aware of?"

"Uh, no, I've been trying to not waste the PPS," Rodney spoke up, Adrienne realizing for the first time that he was in the room.

"There's enough for you," Adrienne countered.

"And what about Nicholas? Torren? TEYLA..." he shot back, Adrienne realizing why he wanted this to occur off world.

He was scared for the children, which made her all the more apprehensive.

"No," she said simply, taking her seat.

"Adrienne, it's not your choice," her husband replied coolly.

"In that case," she said as she stood again, making her way for the door, "Next time you want to make a decision like this, don't bother with a briefing, just send a memo since you really don't care what any of us have to say. Now, if everyone will excuse me, I have work to do."

Without a further word to Daniel, or anyone else for that matter, Adrienne Jackson left the room, grabbing Nicholas from the seat beside Davidson on her way to the lab.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX*

Adrienne didn't call him all day. No silly message, no text and she apparently ate in the lab according to Nicholas who met him for lunch like normal. He met him alone, however, which Daniel didn't like in the least, but Jack was apparently taking Adrienne's side.

"Hey Dad," the boy said as he crawled his way up onto the seat, refusing help as usual.

"Hey," he replied, setting the tablet aside, "how was your morning?"

"You want the honest answer?" he said with a grimace, Daniel shaking his head.

"Why not..."

"Uncle Jack got down to the lab about thirty minutes after Mom and I got there and they were both ranting about how you're too trusting and are blind to what people really are and some other stuff and then Mom was crying about losing you and something about lives and then she left and Uncle Jack tried to get me to play cards but he got annoyed that I kept winning so when Mom came back he left and I just worked on my Ancient," he explained with a shrug.

"So, she's mad at me?"

"No, more worried I think," his son replied.

"Am I on the sofa tonight?" Daniel ventured, probably an inappropriate question to ask your one year old, tomorrow, dear god he was one tomorrow, but Nicholas wasn't stupid.

"I don't think so. She's just being mom," the boy answered, "I'd just tread lightly if I were you."

Getting love advice from his toddler.

Fantastic.

"Can you tell her I missed her at lunch?" Daniel requested, Nicholas picking at his applesauce.

"Yeah," he said, peeking back up at his father, "are you sure about whatever you're gonna do? Mom wouldn't tell me, but I have a feeling it has to do with Todd and why Kanaan is back."

Daniel paused for a moment. He was sure only in that it would keep a potential threat away from the woman that was currently angry with him and the wonderful small person sitting across from him nibbling some graham crackers.

"It does, and yes, I'm sure," Daniel replied, deciding to keep his answer cryptic, because again, he needed to realize that the boy was still a very small child despite it all.

"Can I have some ice cream?" the boy asked, changing his tune completely. Daniel laughed, unsure as to whether this was childlike side of his son that sneaked out every now and then or another diversion but either way it worked.

"Sure," he answered, standing from the table to fulfill the request.

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"Sam this is fantastic," Daniel whispered from the corner of the room looking out into the secondary meeting room as his son's first birthday party was underway. He knew Adrienne hadn't done it, Nicholas insisting he wanted to do this himself, so he was certain that Sam had stepped in for the things that a genius one year old could not do.

"It was all Jack," she replied with a smile, gazing at her husband who was holding up Torren to swing on the fake vines hung from the ceiling.

"I hope he doesn't think we're taking advantage of him, I don't want him to think of himself here as only the babysitter. I still consider him a trusted official," Daniel added but Sam was already shaking her head.

"No, thank you. It was the only thing I regret about our marriage. He misses Charlie and it's too late in our lives to start a family together, at least that's what Jack said. Nicholas gives him what he needs. So thank you, both you and Adrienne. Being with Nicholas is probably the best recovery we could have imagined," Sam whispered a tear in her eye, making Daniel reach his arm around her shoulder.

"Speaking of," she added, her eyes now at the Cajun in question, who was standing over her main contribution to the party, an island cake, complete with everything possible made of icing that represented Robinson Crusoe, Nicholas' chosen theme for the event.

"She's not speaking to me, not about work at least," Daniel admitted, Sam cutting her eyes away from where Nicholas was laughing hysterically at something Ronon was doing on the floor and back over to her old friend.

"Did you weigh each of your options? Pros and cons, thinking about every member of this city?"

"Yep."

"Did you make the choice that had to be made?"

"I think so; we can't just sit here and wait for the galaxy to let us know when it's ready for us to be a part of it again. If Ford was what has held this together then it's Ford I need to be talking to," he answered honestly, Sam shrugging her shoulders.

"Then she'll have to get over it," Sam chuckled, Daniel frowning as he watched Adrienne and Vala chat across the room, refreshing the food at the table.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"You can't stay mad at him forever," Vala said as she cut another apple, setting the pieces carefully onto the serving plate.

"Wanna try me?"

Vala rolled her eyes.

"Addy, stop being so damn stubborn and look at it from his point of view. The only other time in his life he loved liked this he watched her die. Now, it's not just you, it's Nicky, it's that baby growing inside of Teyla. Can you honestly say that you wouldn't be doing exactly the same?"

Adrienne shrugged, watching Daniel across the room, getting down into the floor with their son, laughing, playing, being a good dad. That's what was wrong, the idiotic notion that moving her entire life to the Pegasus galaxy would end in a happily ever after where they were safe from any danger. She lied to herself and now standing here, watching the love of her life try to aim and shoot with the toy bow and arrow much to the delight of both Nicholas and Torren, she realized the reality of that situation.

"Vala I fell in love with him because he's brilliant and compassionate, because he didn't make decisions like this. There's trusting people and then there's suicide. He's taking Kanaan from Teyla, the Genii and what if you-" Adrienne started, Vala crossing her arms.

"You have that little faith in me?"

"No..." Adrienne replied, "I happen to care about ya, ya couquette."

"Don't worry about me. Dex isn't," she answered, looking momentarily insulted that her friend thought her unable to complete her mission, "Look, you and Glasses need to get this straight and fast, before he dives into this. He fell in love with you because you're strong and you're his partner, both of which he needs right now. So, after everything you're not gonna trust him now? First tough decision he's gotta make and you give him the silent treatment because you don't agree?"

"You're a bad friend," Adrienne hissed, looking ahead at her husband who was now standing as John Sheppard was changing the music, something upbeat that she recognized.

"You only tell me that when I'm right," Vala pointed out, following her gaze, "Oh god, that is awful; who taught him that?"

To be perfectly honest Adrienne had been looking in Daniel's direction, seeing him stand, but wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing, but she was now. The song, some new rap, from a CD Cam had sent her, was blaring through the room, Ronon already dancing like a fool and John joining him, but what shocked her was that Daniel, yes her husband Daniel, was dancing right along.

"I have no idea," Adrienne stammered out, "but I'm about to hit the floor..."

"He's so bad at it," Vala pointed out the obvious and Adrienne knew he was; she had discovered that he was a horrible dancer back when they were forced to repeat that magical day when Adrienne had taken a chance and opened up to Daniel for the first time.

"I want to ravage him, like right now, it's so awful, but he's so cute doing it..." Adrienne stammered out, Vala rolling her eyes.

"You should go over there, dance with him," she suggested, "or at least fix him because that's just plain horrid what's happening over there." Trying not to smile Adrienne looked up to see Daniel staring right at her, knowing full well that this little performance was being done for her benefit.

"Trust him..." Vala repeated, "because I think he's making an ass of himself for you right now."

Adrienne, sighed, knowing full well that she was right, setting her drink aside to dance lightly to him. He reached out for her, that smile on his face, her smile, setting his hands gently onto her hips, bringing his lips to her ear.

"I missed you last night," he whispered into her ear, Adrienne giggling lightly as she reached for his hips, a sad attempt to correct his motions.

"I was right there..."

"Ok, then," he answered in reply, "I missed being used as a body pillow."

She laughed, burying herself into his neck, "I'm still upset."

"I accept that," he whispered as he kissed her head, his hips finally matching with hers.

"But I understand," she added, kissing his neck as they wrapped their arms around each other.

"That's all I ask," he muttered softly, swaying with her to the music, "Do I get you back tonight?"

"Yeah..." she answered as she peered up into his eyes, kissing him right in the middle of the party.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"So how long are we gonna wait?" Jinto asked, Ford sitting at the table glancing down at his men and his guest, a Wraith that he didn't quite trust.

"We'll give them a few days, just so that they feel secure," he replied, the low light of the overheads sparkling again his onyx eyes.

"And then we move?" the boy asked, leaning forward, eager Todd could tell.

"Does your father know that you're this quick to change sides?" Ford retorted as the young man frowned.

"I thought you said there were no sides, just survival..." the youth shot back quickly.

"Yet you still reject the very means to this survival..." Ford sneered, sliding the gadget across the table, the one from the Genii, which only now did Todd note looked similar to the injection devices on one of those space fiction shows John had loaned him during his imprisonment. The Wraith sat there, silent, watching the Athosian teen grab the device and examine it, debating his options.

You've already chosen, Todd thought to himself, you're just trying to look tough.

"Many of you are already part Wraith anyway, Teyla being one. In reality, it makes far better sense for you than me." Ford continued, Jinto looking again at that gadget. There was a pause, for drama's sake he could tell, as Todd watched the young man make his move, injecting the substance into his arm.

"Are you finished your show now?" Ford asked calmly.

"So how long?" the boy asked again adding to the unneeded drama by sliding the device back across the table. If Todd didn't know any better, he would have thought the boy watched that same crap programming he had been subjected to for years.

"As long as I feel like, now get out of here," Ford ordered, his men at their feet in case the Athosian questioned, which he didn't, thankfully, because Ford seemed to be losing patience, something he did quite easily. Peeking back over his shoulder, as if he was afraid of being shot in the back or worse, Jinto skittered out of the door, the heavy portal slamming shut behind him.

"Watch him," Ford ordered, sounding much more Earth-like than Todd had heard him, "He's just stupid enough to think that I actually need him." Nodding, one of the men followed, Vero Todd thought his name was, heading out of the door behind him.


	7. Chapter 7 - Who's in First?

_He was running, through the corridors of the city after the boy as he darted in and out of doorway after doorway. He wasn't that fast, he shouldn't be that fast, he shouldn't be that big, and Daniel couldn't catch him no matter how quickly he ran. He tried to shout out, scream for him to stop, but it was too late, always too late because again he reached the doorway, the one dead ahead, the one with the glow, a familiar shimmer, that small tennis shoe disappearing into the abyss. _

"Nicholas NO!" Daniel shouted out, sitting up quickly at his desk, nearly falling out of his chair but there were hands under his arms, soft but strong hands, guiding him back into his seat.

"You're day sleeping again, aren't you sha?" Adrienne asked, the concern in her face clear.

"No..." he lied, but she was already pulling over the extra chair in his main office right beside him, leaning forward to read him.

"Yes, you are. That's why you've been working down here Indy. I have your meeting schedule," she replied, with a slight smile.

"Nosey," he accused.

"Learned from the best," she shot back, extending her hand across to him.

"How'd you figure it out?" he asked, letting her worry, she was going to anyway, running her fingers lightly across his cheek.

"Because whenever I come to check on you or whine about Data, you have a mark right here on your cheek like you fell asleep on your hand," she answered, outlining the supposed grooves on his face. Of course she'd notice, if not that then the redness in his eyes or the...

"AND you've been tossing in your sleep, so bad it wakes even me up, which as we both know takes damn near the end of that world. What's going on?"

Sighing, caught, Daniel reached for her fingers, bringing them to his lips and kissing them lightly.

"Bad dreams," he couldn't lie to her, he could never lie to her, especially when her dark eyes were gazing right into his own.

"About?" she pushed as he sat back, rubbing his face and taking off his glasses to re-bend them into shape, Adrienne reaching to take them and do it for him.

"Nicky, running away, it's all kind of a blur," he said as he tried to remember if he saw anything in the doorway the boy always ran through, anything at all, but it was all a haze, disappearing as fast as the dream itself seemed to happen.

"Sounds to me like one of those symbolic dreams, like maybe you're questioning yourself as a father," she offered, reaching for his hand, "which you shouldn't because you kinda kick ass at it."

"Thanks ja-wer," he whispered, taking a breath and pushing the last of the dream away, "did you need something? Sorry I had to move back up here this week; just with setting up the meeting with Ford things have been a little crazier than normal."

"Yeah, need to borrow you when you get the chance. I got Data to stop showing that damn error message but Sam's Asgard is rough when it comes to the history part of it. If I could borrow you for the afternoon, we can knock this out and start running the beta testing in the main classroom," Adrienne asked, laying her head down onto the desk herself.

"You don't look like you're any more awake than I am," Daniel said, reaching out to run his fingers through her hair.

"You kept me up remember?" she teased, peeking up at him.

"I've got Uthos here at ten but I can come down after. Is Nicholas with you today?"

"No," she shook her head, "I let Ronon and Jack take him to test the jumpers."

"Are you feeling well?" Daniel said with a frown, sitting up as he mocked her.

"Ha, ha Indy," Adrienne said as she stood, making her way for the door, sluggishly but trying, "So lunch alone and I dunno maybe we can make-out or something in the lab."

Daniel dropped his pen.

"We've been together as long as we have and we're married yet you STILL get flushed when I joke like that," she laughed, shaking her head as she passed through the door, a gentle hand on Davidson's shoulder as she walked by.

Damn distracting Adrienne.

Glancing back at his desk, Daniel wondered if he, even five years ago, would have imagined his life like this, wife, one child, another on the way,

Nope.

Peeking at his schedule he saw that she was correct, after his now daily check in with Rodney concerning the gate bridge plans, he had abandoned the core project for a while, his afternoon was free after Uthos.

He would head down there, unannounced, and push her back against her tables.

See how smart mouthed she was then...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Todd didn't know exactly how the enzyme worked, whether it was in his body or the body of a human, all he knew was that it was there to help him feed. He had been trained to lead, not in science, so his knowledge of anything biological was very limited. It didn't, however, take a trained scientific mind to see the results of the enzyme on the Athosian people.

Halling, who'd stepped up to take charge when Kanaan had left to make contact with Atlantis, chose to continue the mandatory training, training that Todd himself had seen Teyla engage in on Atlantis. Bored, somewhat, but more curious, Todd slipped into the facility, observing the beating, because that is what it was.

A beating.

Jinto had some other Athosian, Todd had stopped trying to learn their names as it made him feel like he was actually starting to care, pinned onto the ground, seemingly choking the life out of him. The man, somewhat older than the youth, was battered, bruised, darkness spreading rapidly across his cheek.

"That is enough JINTO!" Halling was shouting and the boy let go, standing slowly as he gazed downward.

"Control my son," Halling was lecturing as he knelt, "the key to it is control. Once you have won nothing further is needed."

"I apologize. I lost my senses," the boy said gazing down, but Todd knew it was complete and total bullshit.

"It is alright brother," the man on the floor assured, taking the hand that Halling was offering, "these are strange times. We all lose our senses every once in a while."

"Yes they are," Halling answered, "all the more reason to be watchful that we do not lose who we are."

And more bullshit, Todd thought; if only this idiot knew what was going on in front of his face. That Todd had been trained in, politics, seeing through the crap that was laid in front of him, he was a damn expert and crap was what was going on right now. Ford was full of crap, though Todd had yet to figure out what kind, just as Jinto was full of crap and Halling was full of crap. Much to his own dismay he was starting to miss Atlantis.

At least there he had those candies.

"Greetings Todd," Halling announced, the Wraith shaking his head. He had been 'Guide' for most of his life, the part that mattered, but this name given to him by John Sheppard seemed to stick. It must be the humans, they liked names and designations and 'Guide' was just too general. Todd wasn't so bad he guessed, it could have been one of the dozens of horrible monikers he had heard on those Earth programs.

"Hello," he answered, somewhat annoyed he had been noticed but that should have been expected.

"Have you come to train?"

I could break you, feed on you and then break you some more just for fun, Todd thought, lifting his hand to shake it in front of him.

"No," he said quietly, "I was just walking around the ship."

Nodding, Halling pointed for the next two combatants, two young women, one Todd had seen roaming the ship with Jinto. He wondered if she too had taken the enzyme, had succumbed to Ford's persuasions not realizing that he was toying with them. The young Earth man had his minions following his wishes because they thought he was a savior, he had the Wraith following because he could provide them limitless food, but the Athosians, Todd could tell from the moment he boarded, still did not trust him. That was what he was doing with the youth and Todd was actually surprised he was still allowing the others to live.

He heard blows being struck, taking his attention back to the bout, turning out just as he expected, the young woman slamming the other to the ground.

Wonder how long until their eyes turn black too, Todd thought, pivoting to exit the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"I am pleased to be able to offer my own space for the meeting," Uthos said with a sneer, Daniel trying to keep his smart remarks to a minimum. He wasn't an idiot; he knew where the Genii stood, only halting their "trial" of the expedition until they had evaluated Daniel's leadership, which right now was still under scrutiny.

"And we are most appreciative and hope that this will be one of the first steps in repairing relations between us," the commander answered, letting his thoughts say what his voice could not.

_If not, Ronon's going to be standing behind me to blow you away before Vala beams us aboard, but I can keep that to myself. _

"There is a chance. You seem to be less idiotic than the last man in your position and you recognize who is responsible for holding this galaxy together," the general said as he sat back in his seat casually.

_I sure do, the drug addict that I'm meeting on your world, the one who has just about wiped out the Wraith. How many Wraith have you killed? _

"And for that, and I speak for my homeworld, we can never thank you enough," Daniel replied without missing a beat.

"Then we are finished. In one week's time we are to expect you and your representatives as well as the representatives of this, inconvenience, and begin to discuss the leadership of this galaxy," he said as he stood, pushing the chair under.

_I honestly think I am the ONLY person in the Pegasus that DOESN'T think he's the king of the galaxy._

_God help us all if the powers that be had given Rodney this job. _

His guest has nothing else to say, nor Daniel to him, the commander standing to see him out. A quick glance at his watch told him that it was only eleven, plenty of time to sneak down to the lab...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

It felt good to feed off of a human again, that is, until it didn't. Taking only enough to make the beginnings of knuckles start to grow from the stump, Todd stepped back, glancing from side to side in paranoia.

He couldn't let Ford know.

When Todd arrived he'd been welcomed with open arms, which had been somewhat unexpected considering that the first of his visions had included stern warnings from the man that he needed to forget everything he was seeing. Instead, Aiden Ford had taken him to his private office, a converted queen's quarters, offering him a human to feed upon right away. That was his first indicator; he didn't need to be on the receiving end of a feeding to know the horror of what it did. Ford was offering one of his own as if it were perfectly normal to do so. Not having too many other options, Todd had fed, but stopped before he had ripped too many years from the man, claiming that it was overwhelming to no longer be feeding on the substitute.

He hadn't touched another human since.

The problem with that strategy was that Aiden Ford had noticed. He offered medical care to Todd, the ship had acquired some humans from a world that had been experimenting on the Wraith, but Todd refused, stating that there was nothing wrong; he merely needed time to adjust to feeding normally and that his hand would grow back in time, which it would. There was no more stalling now, Ford would notice if he continued to starve himself and Todd had finally asked to go to the holding cells to feed, well that was what he had told Ford.

What he really wanted to do was see what was down there.

"End me," the man begged, Todd looking away, unable to make eye contact. It used to be so easy, the feeding, the healing, but it wasn't the same anymore, and that much worse that Ford did nothing to keep these people in stasis; here they were wide awake and waiting, in chains or dirty ropes.

"Please," the man continued, Todd drawing up to meet his gaze.

"Stop torturing me you monster," the man now changed his tune, weakly defiant but Todd shook his head.

"You don't know what torture is," he shot back, turning away, his eyes at the door. The man shouted something else, something that Todd couldn't make out, a few other howls emanating from behind him. He started to glance back, why did he care, why did it matter, but he forced himself to look ahead, always ahead when he heard one shout that he couldn't ignore.

Feeling something he had never felt in his entire existence, Todd stopped, turning in the direction of the noise.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

She was bent over her desk, headphones plugged in, loud rap music blasting from them as she typed feverishly onto the tablet, the hologram in front her yammering away in mute. His wife, however, was paying the image no attention, just dancing away at the console like he had grown accustomed to her doing over the years.

They had a good ninety minutes until lunch, Nicholas swooping over the city; he had already called Ronon to check in, his son shouting excitedly in the background. Daniel had made the Satedan swear not to let him fly the ship, but Daniel knew that somehow Jack would sit Nicky in his lap and say he was flying it.

Whatever, as long as Adrienne didn't know.

Cautiously, he shut the door, hoping she didn't hear, but she was still bopping away as it clicked shut behind him. He used his codes, locking it and shutting off the cameras, unzipping his jacket as he walked up behind her curved form, slipping his hand onto her backside as he approached.

"Cute Indy," she said without moving, without taking her headphones from her ears, instead shifting her body so his hands could move to more intimate places.

"I was kidding," she added, Daniel bringing his lips to her neck.

"I'm not," he whispered, pulling out the headphones with his teeth, quickly returning to peck the nape, "you started it. You always start it."

"I do not..." she teased, removing the other earbud, to reach out for his pants, undoing the clasps slowly.

"See, see what you're doing right now. That's called starting it..." Daniel murmured, trailing, his hands slipping away, Adrienne was so far away, why was she above him...

Daniel was unconscious before he hit the floor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"It's just a fever, he's dehydrated and ill," Carson explained from the scanner, Daniel rubbing his face.

"I thought I did something," Adrienne muttered, her arms crossed at her chest protectively.

"Addy if you made him pass out getting him undressed you have some powers that every man on this base will be jealous of," the doctor joked, Adrienne's cheeks flushing, "It's just a virus, he's overworked. In fact, based on his blood work, it's a virus from here in the Pegasus, a direct result of not taking care of yourself."

"So, I'm just sick?" Daniel clarified, unlocking the scanner so he could sit.

"Yes Daniel, sick, which means rest and fluids, in BED," Carson reiterated, knowing that Daniel was going to jump right up and head to work, only exasperating his condition.

"But Carson, he shouldn't get sick. Shouldn't the healing, especially lately, prevent that?" Adrienne was now asking, the doctor shaking his head.

"Not necessarily Addy. An illness is different than an injury; the body still has to recognize the illness first and then decide how to treat it. Daniel's abilities should, however, speed the process. The system says the period of illness is two weeks, I think Daniel could be well in as early as one..."

"But he's never been sick, not since we got together..." she argued, Daniel shaking his head as he stood.

"I have, we weren't together but I was in love with you," Daniel replied groggily, Adrienne glancing over, remembering the one time she had cared for him when he was so ill. That little memory had gotten lost in her timeline of their relationship, the thought of holding him like she had that day making her smile.

"Really? Then?" her face softened, she was blushing again as he reached out for her hands.

"Yea, then," he smiled, letting her help him stand, glancing over at Carson, "I'm gonna need to call in the staff, have everyone tested. Is there a vaccine?"

"No," he replied, his eyes on the screen again, "but it seems to act a lot like mononucleosis. There's a good chance that anyone who had mono as a youth could be already immune."

"I'm good then," Adrienne declared, Daniel glancing over at her sharply.

"Oh really?"

"Don't look at me like that Indy. It's the kissing disease, so if anything I should be asking YOU what exactly YOU have been doing," his wife spat back.

Daniel frowned.

"To bed Daniel, I'm serious. This can be a nasty bug if you don't take care of yourself," Carson repeated, looking at Adrienne more than Daniel, knowing that this would ultimately be her fight.

"You heard him sha," Adrienne said as she grabbed her husband's sleeve, dragging him along to their quarters, "get ya tchew moving."

Rubbing his face, he did feel awful, he let his wife escort him back to their quarters.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Daniel has mono?!" Sam heard her husband laughing out loud, Nicky peeking up from where he has been organizing his pseudo-uncle's fishing tackle.

"You gotta keep a better eye on him Dr. Perky, you know the alien ladies love him," he added, Sam rolling her eyes. She knew there was a reason that Adrienne hadn't called her all afternoon and now she had it, but she'd just wait until Jack got off of the communicator before asking.

"Airborne, sure..." Jack joked, the boy now standing and walking over to him, "yes Addy, of course he can stay here. We'll have a great time!" and now he was looking down at Nicholas smiling. Whatever it was, it must be serious enough to warrant Nicky having an extended stay.

"I promise. What, dammit, I'm not ten years old. Christ, fine, I promise to not let the little munchkin fly the puddle jumpers," Jack said, "I'll come get his stuff in a while. You're welcome."

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, Jack shaking his head as he looked between her and the boy.

"Daniel's got some damn space virus, ordered to bed, Dr. Perky gets to play Florence Nightingale," Jack replied, pointed to the child, "what do you need to survive here a few days?"

"Clothes," Nicholas answered, "that's about it."

"Perfect, and since I too was a victim of the great make-out disease, I'll head down there, get you some clothes, make fun of Daniel, and I might even have some time to order take-out," he continued, never serious, but that was why Sam loved him.

"I don't envy Dr. Perky. That man's a whiney bitch when he does feel well, I can't imagine him with damn mono..."

"You all are; men can't handle sick," Sam couldn't resist, chuckling, Jack stopping to turn back and glare at her.

"I am not!" he shot back, Sam shaking her head, looking down at Nicholas.

"Next time he's sick Nicholas, we film it. You with me?" she asked, a grin spreading across the boy's face.

"You'd better believe it!" he shouted out, Jack turning back for the door grumbling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Teyla, I am asking that you do not," Kanaan pleaded, knowing it would be to no avail. From the moment she had come onscreen to explain what was happening he could tell by her face, a face he missed already having not seen her in years, that she had made up her mind.

"Kanaan, it is, like the last virus to infect the city, one we both suffered as children. I will be fine," she argued, her pleasant smile overshadowing their argument.

"And the baby?"

"Carson assures me that the baby will be fine as well," she answered, Kanaan feeling strange about inquiring about another's child before his own, but he knew she would want to expose young Torren to build up his own immunity. It was what any Athosian would do.

"What's wrong?" Vala asked as she re-entered the main area, having been napping in the back.

"Sickness in the city, Dr. Jackson has fallen ill," Kanaan replied, Vala taking the seat beside him laughing.

"Sucks to be Addy," she teased, "do we need to head back?"

"It is not serious, it is a common illness in the Pegasus," Teyla answered from the monitor, Vala nodding.

"Dex ok?" she asked, Kanaan glancing over at her. That explained her slight delay in their departure; the Satedan had taken her as his mate. Kanaan paused, in thought. It was a different Atlantis to which he had returned. The city-station he had resided in with Teyla so many years ago was a different place now, happy, more like a family than he remembered. There were couples, and children and...

Joy.

It made him want to turn the ship around and forget the hive, causing guilt to course through him.

"Ronon is fine," his own love answered his traveling companion, "and he does miss you greatly."

The woman smiled. He didn't see her do that very much, she seemed tough and hard, but the mention of the former runner had her glowing much like Teyla did in his presence.

No, Kanaan thought, I need to get back to this hive and make sure negotiations go well and bring my people back to this, have them start their lives on this city, have this joy spread.

"Well, we've got about another day of travel ahead, so tell whoever is standing in for Glasses that we'll check in as soon as we've got the thing in sight," Vala replied, back to business mode. She was a strange one, so guarded and private, making him wonder why.

"Excellent, I shall pass on the message. Until we speak once more my soul," she gazed back into the viewer at Kanaan, her look, even thousands of miles away warming his heart.

"I live for the words again," he responded, ending the communication.

"She never gave up hope," the woman said, surprising him, slipping into that other caring persona for just a fleeting moment, a slight smile in his direction.

"Nor did I," he answered honestly, turning his gaze back to space.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

She could see why Adrienne was getting so frustrated because she kept getting that same damn Ancient error message every single time she tried to upload Data with any piece of their information from Earth. It didn't make any good sense, she'd followed the directions to the letter, as Adrienne had done, but the message still popped up every time that she attempted to upload the image into the academic system.

"Damn Morgan La Fey," she cursed aloud, laughter behind her making her peek over her shoulder to see John Sheppard entering the lab.

"If it's not one thing around here, it's another," he noted, walking up behind her to peer at the screen, "is it still misbehaving?"

"Yeah, and it makes no sense," she said with a sigh, backing up and pointing to the code, "it's a basic upload, far less complicated than most of the technology here. This should have been a simple project that we should have finished by now, as it is Addy is spending too much time here and not enough on the mainland or working to contact allies again. I think I'm gonna have to talk to Daniel, maybe he remembers something that Morgan said, if he can remember any details that specific after all of this time."

"That's not gonna happen anytime soon," John grimaced, pointing to a chair to silently ask to take a seat, the scientist nodding.

"That bad? I really need to call and check on Jack and Nicky, but I haven't had time to do that, let alone call down to Daniel and Addy," she explained as she herself took a seat and a break, intentionally diverting her eyes from the console.

"Yeah. Adrienne caught him trying to work when she went to the lab to gather a few things. He was flushed and had just about passed out onto his tablet. She's locked up anything that could relate to running that city at all and laid the law down, ordering him to bed."

Sam shook her head. Daniel was prone to work himself to death under normal circumstances, but being in charge of the city seemed to make him willing to push himself to the edge of health. Advanced healing or not, there was no excuse in that kind of behavior, and she could only hope that he was listening to Adrienne.

"He needs to just sleep, let his body do its job," Sam said, John shaking his head.

"He's too worked up over this Ford thing, which I came down here to talk to you," John replied, Sam sitting up with interest.

"About?"

"I'm his second; I think we need to transfer things to my name, just until he's better. I think that would make him feel like his entire command isn't spiraling out of control if there was someone at the helm, someone that's not Rodney drooling over a chance at power. I went down to ask him and Adrienne said just do it, that telling him would make him go into panic mode again as if he had done something wrong," John explained as Sam frowned.

"Then why aren't you down at command office?"

"Because, " John continued, "I wanted your advice before I head down there and take over, even if it is temporary. Daniel and I haven't had the easiest time here; I don't think the Todd incident is anywhere near resolved between the two of us."

Oh, Sam thought, that. No, he wasn't totally over that, having brought it up over some shared glasses of wine the week before between herself, Daniel, Jack and Adrienne after dinner.

"And I can tell by your face that I'm right," John said with a sigh, Sam shrugging.

"Regardless of any disagreement between the two of you, the point remains that there is a potential threat to the city and the city commander is on doctor ordered bed rest carrying a contagious airborne virus," Sam offered instead of agreeing, "it's only until he gets better."

John sat there silently, considering her words. She hoped he understood Daniel's position; her old friend was fiercely protective of his young family, rightfully so since his personal life was the one area it seemed that he was never going to get a break in, until Adrienne. Honestly, all of this time later, Sam still couldn't believe that Daniel had fallen in love with that feisty Cajun spitfire she'd surprised hired as his assistant, married her and was now a father.

She was glad he did though; it all just seemed to be meant to be.

"Alright," he said and stood, decision made she was glad, "I'm gonna go ahead, transfer power and start going through that mess of paperwork he deals with."

"And to be honest," Sam said, standing as well, telling herself that her break was over, "it will probably do a lot to repair things once he's up and moving again that he'd not coming back to a pile of work waiting for him."

"And the man gets a week off from Rodney," John joked as he headed for the door, "after that Daniel's gonna owe ME a beer."

Chuckling, Sam waved goodbye, frowning at the screen that was proving to be the bane of her existence.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

_He was running again, through the corridors of the city, the south wing, the empty wing, after Nicholas as he darted ahead. He wasn't that fast, he shouldn't be that fast, but Daniel couldn't catch him; he was just out of reach. He tried to shout out, scream for him to stop, but it was too late, yet again too late because once more he reached the doorway, the one with the glow, a familiar shimmer, that small tennis shoe disappearing into the abyss. _

_"Cruvus!" _

"Indy, Daniel, sha, sit up, sit up, wake ya gah damn ass up!"

He was vaguely aware of Adrienne's voice, that feminine sound in contrast to the deep masculine voice shouting that word, when there was a hand on his forehead, and he was being pulled upright. He stood, at least he thought he was standing, his hand extended, being dragged forward.

"Daniel, love, please say something, but don't stop, keep walking, just talk ta me," Adrienne was speaking to him but he couldn't answer, letting her lead him forward. There were bright lights flickering to life, and he felt a pull at his waist, his boxers, she was taking them off and then hands moved up his torso, his shirt over his head and he wondered for a moment why he was naked.

_"_Gah dammit, ya be burnin' up, Daniel ya gotta talk ta me or I'm gonna get Carson down 'ere," she was demanding and he heard water starting beside him, finally moving something other than his legs, turning his head to look at the bathtub like structure in their room, but they weren't in their room, they were in the bathroom, in the middle of the night, and he'd missed walking to the bathroom. She was drawing him a bath, them a bath apparently as she stripped off her own clothes in front of him.

"Ad?" he asked, his wife breathing out a sigh of relief as she nodded her head.

"Yeah, it's me. Keep talking ta me. Can ya get in? Ya fever is really 'igh ahn I gotta try to cool ya down sha," she requested, Daniel letting her lead him to the tub, watching her step in carefully and turn to reach out for his hands.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly four," she answered, guiding him to join her, "ya started thrashin' and screamin' and ya skin was on fire..." her accent was clearer, she was easier to understand in his haze, Daniel slowly coming to as he sat down in the water across from her. He nearly jolted upright the moment his skin touched the surface of the liquid, it seemed too cold, but he knew it was the fever that was making him flinch.

"Jus get down in it, as far as ya can," he heard her whisper, lips kissing his head, "I gotta break it."

"How high?"

"I used Nicky's forehead swab," she said with a frown, "one 'o four."

That was high, he needed to lay back and let it break, but she stopped him, slipping around and behind his back and pulling him into her arms.

"Jus lay back," Adrienne ordered, a washcloth in her hands faster than he could see her get it, the cool wet fabric brought to his forward as he let himself relax against her soft skin.

"I had that dream again," he mumbled, his eyes closed.

"Jack's promised that he'll neva let it happen again, I think ya need to stop obsessing," she scolded gently, rewetting the cloth and kissing his face a second time.

"It's this Ford mess, I think I'm just terrified that no matter how hard I try I won't be able to keep you all safe..."

"Shhhh..." she shushed him, wrapping her arms tightly around him, "stop, you will. This is why you're so sick Indy. You have to take a break. We used to take breaks all of the time, see a movie, go to a lecture, get dinner together..."

"There used to be places to go," he said without thinking, shocked by his own words. She didn't say a thing in response at first, reaching her hand into the water beside them, wetting the rag and bringing it now to the back of his neck.

"You miss home?" she finally asking, pecking his temple.

"Yeah."

"Me too," she replied.

"I'm sorry ja-wer, for all of this," he apologized, Adrienne shaking her head as she went to soak the rag again.

"Don't be. For lawd's sake Daniel did ya think any of this was gonna be easy? Marriage, being a parent, moving here. I might miss home, but I have my family in this city and that's all I need. We just need to find ways around here to escape for a bit," Adrienne assured, kissing him again softly, Daniel cuddling back into her embrace.

"I love you Ad, so much," he muttered, running his lips down her bicep.

"I love you too sha," she replied, pulling away and lifting his arm, "put this up, I need to check."

"Check what?" he questioned but complied, Adrienne slipping her hand into his armpit.

"I need to see if you're sweating, you're still hot but if you start sweating then it's breaking," she explained kissing his shoulder.

"Gross, Ad, don't do that," he whined, but she held him in place.

"Daniel, at this point in our relationship I don't think there is anything we haven't seen or done to one another. Just relax," she ordered, Daniel leaning back to frown at her.

"Am I sweating?"

"No...dammit," she grumbled, pushing him forward so she could stand, "I think Jenn's on duty, or at least one of the interns. I'm gonna call down there and order you an IV."

Sighing out, she was right if he was maintaining a fever that high, Daniel laid back in the tub, sick or not watching Adrienne cross the bathroom, the water dripping from her muscular form.

Damn shame he was so sick; he would never get sick of looking at her.

"Ja-wer!" he shouted out, Adrienne turning as she fastened her robe, "Can I get something to read?"

"Nothing work related," she warned quickly.

"Sookie?" he asked, his voice pitiful.

Adrienne cracked up, laughing hysterically.

"Coo, sha ya must be sick if ya be asking fa da vampires," she said, shaking her head, "Sure, I'll go get ya something."

Rubbing his temples, Daniel laid back again, staring at the ceiling, a part of him fearing closing his eyes in case his feverish nightmares were to return.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"My stomach hurts," Nicholas whined from his sleeping bag, Jack hitting pause on the remote.

"From laughing or the ice cream?" he asked with a smile.

"Both," the boy answered, "Mom's gonna kill us."

"Your mom and your aunt Sam. I'm not supposed to be eatin' like this either," Jack laughed, sipping more of his soda.

"Have you heard from Mom?" the child now asked, Jack nodding as he swallowed.

"Yep, they're fine, just tired."

"Is Dad driving her crazy?" Nicholas inquired with a smile, Jack laughing.

"No, she said he's just sleeping a lot, finally, after he threw a few fits," Jack replied, taking another quick sip before snapping his fingers, tossing the remote aside, "Dex radioed down, said he's taking a scout ship to the mainland, check around, make sure Ford hasn't sent any goons to spy on us."

"You mean like Aunt Vala is doing to Ford?"

"Why are you so damn clever?" Jack sighed, "Yes, like Vala is doing with Ford. Anyway, he asked me to come along so you can either go or I'll call Teyla."

"Mom said I can go?"

Damn little responsible squirt.

"I didn't ask. Another lesson munchkin when it comes to dealing with women, always ask for forgiveness and never permission," the general noted, the boy frowning that little miniature Daniel face that he gave.

"Besides, have you told her about flying last week?" he added.

"No..." the boy grumbled.

"See, no harm no foul. Ronon doesn't think there's anything there, we're taking Rodney too to run some nerd scans for James Bond doohickeys," Jack explained, Nicholas standing up.

"Can I fly the jumper over?" the grin was unmistakable, the Addy face now, damn little half Dr. Perky.

"That's up to Ronon," Jack responded, standing from his chair, "but either way if you outsmart Rodney little guy, we eat chocolate cake for dinner."

Now Jack was speaking Nicky's language.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Adrienne?"

She heard the voice behind her, rolling over and covering her head with a blanket.

"It can't be morning yet..." she whined, her left leg falling off the edge of the sofa.

"Mid, you have been asleep for quite some time," Teyla answered, Adrienne darting upright as she realized who was speaking to her.

"Shit, Indy, is he ok? I've been up for days, I just, I.." she was stammering, yawning to hydrate her dry contact lenses.

"It is fine, Daniel is resting again, I have made him put on fresh clothing and changed your sheets while he showered," the Athosian woman replied, matter of factly, Adrienne's jaw dropping.

"He's upright?"

"He was," Teyla said nodding, "for a time, I had to help when he slipped slightly, but everything is fine."

The thought of Daniel slipping in the shower worried Adrienne to no end, visions of him slamming his head, and even more so that Teyla, who was carrying their child had to catch him and hold him upright. She was worried, confused, thankful until she settled on that emotion, thankful.

"Teyla," she sighed out, "I can't thank you enough."

"There is no need," Teyla insisted, "That is what family does."

_No, you are far better than family Teyla; you're a saint. _

"Where is Torren?" Adrienne now asked, worried, feeling that once again her own problems had managed to intrude on the lives of others.

"Showing first symptoms, thankfully. I have left him to sleep on the infirmary to be sure."

_Dammit, he's sick... _

"Teyla, I'm so sorry," Adrienne was up, realizing that in her haste she was only wearing one of Daniel's large t-shirts and nothing more. She started to cover herself and stopped; Teyla might as well be a member of the family at this point and had just said as much.

"No," she insisted, passing over a mug of coffee, wow she made coffee too, "there is no better vaccine for the virus than to get it young. Like many of the illnesses here, it is far worse if you acquire it as an adult, as you can see with Daniel."

Adrienne made a face. That was what people used to do before the chicken pox vaccine on Earth, but with current medications that was no longer needed. It made her wish she knew more about medicine so she could start working on a solution that didn't involve poor Torren suffering as her husband was.

"Adrienne you need to eat," Teyla continued, reaching her hand for the Cajun's arm, "Go to the commissary, I will stay with Daniel."

The not ill Dr. Jackson started to protest but her stomach was rumbling, strongly, and she realized that in taking care of Daniel that she had not eaten in almost twenty four hours.

Not a very smart thing to do.

"Are you sure you're ok? I won't be long, I'm just gonna throw on some jeans and go down there and come back," she asked, Teyla shaking her head.

"No, you must get some work done as well. Samantha called. She needs you to come down to the main office."

Huh, Adrienne thought, Sam knows that Daniel's sick as a dog and she still needs me, the thoughts making her worry, again...

"Ok..." Adrienne started and trailed, Teyla shooing her away.

"Go, take a break from this. Eat, call Nicholas and I will be here if he needs anything," she insisted, pushing Adrienne right through the bedroom door, where she saw her husband sleeping peacefully on their bed.

_Definitely a saint. _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Pissed off didn't quite describe what John Sheppard was feeling right now at the error message appearing on the screen of Daniel's computer. It wasn't that message in Ancient, that didn't show up on Earth computers; it was a clear indicator of how little faith his commander had in him.

The display kept giving him the same little box over and over again, that his access codes were denied, that a system override was required by someone with top level security clearance, clearance he was supposed to have.

His first thought had been to call Rodney; if anyone he would know how in the hell to fix this, but he was informed by Dr. Elias Bosse in the science wing that Rodney was on the mainland with Ronon and Jack, doing a security sweep. As far as computer geeks he trusted that had left Sam and Adrienne, the latter not who he wanted to call considering it was her husband that he was raging at.

Sam had come down nearly as soon as he called her, which was expected given that she suggested he take over. He didn't say a word as she repeated the exact process he had done himself mere moments earlier, making the same confused faces that he was sure he himself had. She tried a second time before doing what he had really needed her to do. Sitting, muttering a few things under her breath, Sam clicked and clacked and tapped before finally sitting back in the chair shaking her head.

"He didn't..." she sighed out, rubbing her hand down her face.

"Who he? Daniel?" John asked, Sam nodding her head.

"Yes, Daniel," her answer was short, and there was nothing on the screen that John even remotely understood adding to his rage.

"What did he do?"

Sam didn't reply, clicking around once more before the error message showed for her as well, this time with an SGC identification code.

"He changed access, according to these settings you're no longer the second in command of the city, well, at least when it comes to the computing systems, files, codes."

John didn't need to ask who was, he knew, it was just like Daniel to act like a damn brat and change access in this fashion. Taking a breath, John went and sat on the white sofas, his gaze still on Sam's.

"Call her now," he ordered, not meaning to be rude, breathing as Teyla had taught him while Sam heeded his request.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

There was no need for her to be here. Wraith fed on life, aging a person out of their years, but there was a point in adulthood that the subject needed to reach that gave them the balance between youth and a mature life force.

A young child had neither.

In fact, it was why when he was a leader himself he often ordered children executed; they were useless, provided no nourishment and were generally loud.

Why, however, could he not bring himself to do more than stare as this little girl, her black hair covering her eyes, was beyond him.

"Don't touch her!"

"Kill her, kill all of us, end it!"

"You fuckin' monster!"

The food, no the humans, were shouting behind him as he knelt, not even realizing that he was taking the action.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, the girl bringing her chin to meet his gaze, spitting right into his face.

"I shall assume that means your answer is no," Todd replied, repressing a laugh. The kid had spunk, and he liked that.

"Has anyone fed from you?"

"I don't speak to insects," she responded, Todd screwing his face. Smart too, he wasn't sure if very many of the inhabitants of the Pegasus knew the truth about the origin of the Wraith.

"Then you are a smart girl."

"I'm poisonous," she now warned, "my father made sure that if you eat me you'll die instantly."

It was merely a ruse, the only worlds he knew that had the Hoffan drug had been obliterated, most likely long before this girl was alive and she wasn't from Atlantis. The only children he knew of on Atlantis at this time were Dr. Jackson's son and Teyla's boy, not one girl. She glared at him, ready for a fight, daring him to touch her, which he hadn't planned on when he saw a mark on her neck, a tattoo, three vertical dots situated beside a vertical line and another line with a flag on the end.

The child was Satedan.

He couldn't stop himself, reaching forward to move the rest of her hair aside to insure that he wasn't seeing things. She was young, maybe seven solar cycles by Earth standards, so that meant that somewhere the Satedans were surviving and not just hiding out of Belkan and Manaria, where their tattoos did not lend themselves to total assimilation.

"Get away from me!" she hissed.

"Leave her alone, take one of us!"

"Don't take another child!"

Todd pulled his hand away, peering back to see who had shouted but every last human dropped to total silence.

"Another child?" he asked, not standing, gazing back at the humans, "children are useless."

"Maybe to you, but not here," a woman spoke up, why was he talking to them, why were they awake, but Todd found himself at his feet.

"Why are they not useless here?"

The room dropped to silence, each human now looking away.

"Get out of here you filthy beast!" the child screamed, kicking him forcefully in the leg.

In the past Todd would have snapped her bratty little neck and found the humans who dared raise their voice to him, feeding off of them slowly and painfully. Instead, he turned, walking out of the storage facility and down the hall in the opposite direction of his quarters.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Uncle Jack!"

Jack turned around to look behind him, noticing that Nicholas was not where he asked him to be, right there, behind him. Of course not; the kid seemed to excel at wandering off.

"Nicky! Dammit what part of stay put did you not understand?!" he shouted, his eyes darting around trying to find the child who had to be close enough considering that he could hear his voice loud and clear.

"Over here, I found a box!"

"First you let the kid come, then he gets to fly the ship and now he's lost. Mighty fine operation we have running here Ronon, you should be proud," Rodney sneered as he stopped his scan, Ronon halting to peer back.

"Shut up Rodney," was all he said, looking around him and back at Jack, "Nicky stop walking off!"

There was the crumple of sand and rocks, little feet racing forward, the small brown haired toddler sized child coming to a halt in front of them.

"You're as bad at your damn dad," Jack scolded, Nicholas frowning.

"I found something," he stated, looking up at Ronon as though the smallest Jackson was a member of the team.

"What did you find little guy?" the Satedan asked, walking over to his side as he gazed in the direction that he came from.

"It's a box of what looks to be toys!" he was excited Jack could tell; for as smart as he was he did still act like a child in many ways and the retired general only hoped that it was his presence as the volunteer babysitter and personal mentor that made it that way. Not that Daniel and Adrienne weren't doing an excellent job with him, they were, but they were both so intense...

"Since when do we care about toys!?" Rodney spat, Ronon shooting him another look.

"Shut up Rodney," Jack yelled, "Lead the way munchkin!"

Not caring what about the grumbling emanating from the back, Jack took what was only a few steps and stowed under a bush was exactly what the boy said was there, a box, small, wooden and simple.

"See," Nicholas started in right away, "it's full of blocks, with some sort of writing on them."

"Let me see," Ronon requested, stepped forward and kneeling next to the box. His tiny face scrunched, as he passed the block over.

"It's Athosian," Ronon said quickly, handing it back to the boy, "they're teaching blocks, train the children their letters and numbers."

"And you are one hundred percent certain in this?" Rodney asked, having joined them.

"Your mom made a mute button for that toy of hers, can she make one for him?" Ronon joked, Nicholas laughing.

"Sadly, no..."

"If I'm not mistaken we're here to look for any sign that Lieutenant Ford is trying to double cross us!" Rodney continued, Ronon looking back over his shoulder.

"Then go look, but he's not here," the Satedan replied, his attention back to the boy.

"And how do you know that!?" the scientist sneered, Jack impressed that his friend's head of security was not concerned in the least about Rodney's constant bickering.

"Did you use the heat signature scan on the jumpers?"

"Yea."

"Did you run a scan of any sources of electromagnetic fields?"

"Yea."

"Did you survey for debris, recent explosions, any other signs of disturbance of land or domicile?"

"Yea," Ronon responded, not taking his eyes off of the boy for a moment.

"Then why am I here?"

"Cuz Daniel needs a damn break from your shit if he ever hopes to get the hell out of bed."

Damn, Jack thought, nice job Ronon.

"Are you serious?" Rodney spat shocked.

"Yep," Ronon answered, packing up the blocks for the boy, "now go pretend I gave you something to do."

"Damn alien being given the damn head of security, a pacifist baby given the city, why in the hell did I even come? This is ridiculous..." Rodney ranted as he did what was asked, walking back to where they were before.

"Impressive," Jack lauded, taking the box from Ronon so Nicholas wouldn't trip up carrying it, small arms already reaching for the prize.

"Did you really do that for my dad?" the child asked as he stood, brushing his pants.

"I did. He's doing a good job. People need to lay off," Ronon replied, standing as well, "let the man take a break once in a while and spend time with his boy."

Wow, Ronon didn't say much but when he did, he always seemed to be right. Jack knew it was true, Daniel did the best he could to eat every last meal with his family, but it was Jack that got to spend real quality time with Nicky.

Making a note to try to find other means to help when they got back, surely he and Sam could let Daniel, Dr. Perky and the munchkin take a few days after this mess with Ford was finished, Jack waved for the boy to follow as Ronon made his way back to the jumper.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Hey Sam, Teyla said you called, sorry I needed a shower, badly, Indy is kinda killin' me, what's up?" Adrienne was rambling as she dashed into the room, not even in uniform but yoga pants and a tank top, well, a uniform, Adrienne uniform.

"What's up?" John was standing from the sofa the minute she entered the office, "What's up? Are you aware that as long as your husband is lying in bed that this city has no commander?"

"I just figured if it got hairy that you'd take over," Adrienne answered, confused, John racing to the computer.

"Really Addy? Because that's kinda hard to do when I'm locked out of the system!" he shouted as Sam reached for his arm to calm him.

"What do you mean locked out of the system? We haven't changed the access codes since we arrived, are you sure you entered it correctly?" Adrienne was in work mode already, dashing over to the monitor, pulling up the main access screen to have John re-enter his information.

"Yes Addy, I'm sure, here, I'll do it again, YOU can see what it says!" he was pushing in front of her, typing frantically into the keyboard.

_Access Denied _

"And that was your code?" Adrienne asked sweetly, the vein in John's head throbbing.

"SAM!" he was moaning through gritted teeth, Sam reaching forward as requested. Confused, Adrienne frowned, leaning forward toward the screen as a new message flashed to life.

_Access Denied_

_Primary Computing Access D. Jackson_

_Secondary Computing Access A. Jackson_

_Code not Recognized_

"Oh shit Indy..." Adrienne's eyes widened.

"Oh shit is right!" John shouted.

"John calm down..." Sam said, reaching between them again, "she didn't know."

"Of course she knew. He tells her every goddamn thing about this goddamn place, classified or not!"

"Not this," Adrienne spoke up quickly, shaking her head, "this he neglected to mention."

"Can you fix it?" Sam asked, by the look on her face Adrienne understanding that she had already tried.

"Maybe, I don't know any codes other than my personal code..." Adrienne replied, trailing, muttering things under her breath as she typed a few things, striking enter rapidly.

_Access Denied_

"John will you excuse us?" Sam asked, the colonel's face back in a rage.

"Sure, I'll just step outside where I'm wanted anyway, no problem. Let me know when Addy isn't my DAMN BOSS!" he spat, storming out of the office. Sighing, Sam looked back down at Adrienne who had stopped typing and was gnawing at her lip ring.

"I could kill him," the former general hissed, pulling up a chair beside her friend.

"Me too," Adrienne said as she shook her head, "I'm still figuring out the lab."

"I know why he did it," Sam added, rubbing her face as Adrienne typed, "it was the Wraith, he's worried that John...I should have told him, before he brought you two here, he deserved to know..."

"No," Adrienne replied without looking up, "he did it because he's a brat. Trust me, I married him." She saw Sam laugh slightly out of the corner of her eye, entering in the code she thought he would most likely change it to, Skarsgard's birthday, because he thought that it messed with her.

_Access Denied_

"Gah damn cooyon I'll be passin' a slap I swear!"

Taking a breath and racking her brain, Adrienne leaned forward to once again try to fix her husband's insanity.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

There was a second storage facility across from the main cargo hold, one that Todd had seen activity around but had never ventured too. It seemed to have something of interest to Ford and his immediate commanders, but that could have been anything, weapons, a ship, anything. Until today, however, Todd had no clue what that could have been, yet now he had a different idea. Wraith killed children, they did not feed on them, and they most certainly did not keep them.

Except for one reason.

As he expected the door was locked, but for someone with his training, gaining access to a storage room wasn't a challenge in the least. Entering in the override codes, something he was glad that Aiden Ford had no idea how to do, Todd watched a light flash, hitting the button to gain entrance.

No science education was needed, the three very large Wraith lining the wall, unconscious, tubes and tubes coming from nearly every inch of their body were indication enough. There was a device, something they had been experimenting with years ago, he remembered the conferences where continued experimentation with the device had been approved, leading over to tables of humans, of all ages, being drained of their essence, slowly, being kept alive by wholly unnatural means to allow the beings on the wall to feed continuously.

Means his former queen had decided was useless, that it was best to let Wraith that were injured die than keep them alive in this fashion, a useless project that was abandoned.

Unless you wanted to farm them for enzyme, in which case...

For the first time in his life, he wanted to talk to someone, and that someone was human.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"He's better; it's been good that he's been sleeping," the doctor praised, Adrienne nodding happily. Carson had come down to their quarters to check rather than make Adrienne drag Daniel out of bed to the infirmary for that very reason, to keep him sleeping.

"He's been much better, sleeping, reading, even got to do Nicky's bedtime story the past few nights via video. He's in better spirits, it makes a difference to talk to Nicholas I know," she was happy to report, smiling brightly.

"But weak, Addy, he's still very weak," Carson cautioned, tapping the touchscreen to close the bedroom door behind him, "Daniel needs more rest."

"And he is, I'm not going to let him get out of bed until he's better. He's asleep as we speak Carson, you saw. And Teyla's with him when I have to work or want to visit Nicky, which I'm wearing a mask when I do, I SWEAR!"

"Lass," Carson replied, shaking his head, "That's not what I'm trying to say. He's done everything he's supposed to do, and kicking this much faster than someone without his capabilities, but Daniel can't make that meeting. He's still too weak, if anything were to happen...We can't risk it. Call Vala, reschedule, because he's contagious and dehydrated. Based on these blood tests alone he could use some more IV fluids just to give him a boost."

Adrienne was frowning at his words, a million thoughts racing through her head, that he couldn't miss that meeting, did she have the technology to make herself look like him so she could do it in his place, could John stand in now that Adrienne had fixed her husband's administrative tantrum but if Ford saw through the ruse could it cause more of a problem than simply rescheduling...

"Carson you said he was getting better," she was preparing to argue but the look on the doctor's face told her that he knew this was coming and the counter argument had already been formed.

"He is, but like we talked about yesterday he needs an outlet, something. The stress that he's putting on himself is what's gonna put him right back in here, there is nothing wrong with his healing ability, but it can't save him from himself."

Yeah yeah, she thought, damn stupid Indy causing more damn stupid headaches.

"Addy, you're no better," the lecture continued, "You look exhausted. You two need to learn balance."

_I run Carson, nearly every gah damn day when I don't have to deal with Daniel's stupidity._

"One challenge at a time," she answered instead, knowing there was no winning this. The meeting would have to be delayed, but it was best that she call John and let him take care of this since he was now, as he should have been in the first place, temporarily in charge with full access to all operating systems.

"I'd just like to not have to babysit my husband and get to hug my son again," she added, tapping the communicator at her ear.

"All in good time Addy," Carson assured, taking his leave from their quarters.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

They'd waited three days to get the call from Ronon, the one that said it was safe to bring the ships closer to the planet's surface. Almost instantly Ford agreed to the meeting, seemingly eager Vala thought, ordering the ship flown to the orbit of the Genii home world. The hive commander, who was young, looking to be about Addy's age, lit up like a child at the agreement, which was surprising in her opinion.

She'd expected some master villain, not an overexcited former jarhead.

It all seemed to be going well in fact, but Vala requested to stay on the jumper even though Kanaan returned to stay with his people.

She'd seen what was left of the Athosians, a depressingly small number, even seen a few Wraith on the times she boarded the ship to spy as Daniel had asked her.

All but Todd.

She hadn't seen him, which was strange because of what she knew of the Wraith she had assumed that he would hop back into his old ways, but from everything she had witnessed on the ship so far, he hadn't. She'd thought to ask Kanaan, see if he could offer any insight, but he seemed to be stuck in meetings of his own, trying to convince an older Athosian man that they needed to rebuild the village on the mainland of Atlantica. Vala was in total agreement, it was much safer to live in the shadow of Atlantis than this dreary place, but she could understand their fear. Like she herself had lost her entire world, these people we standing on the brink of a lonely future, trying to decide who to trust.

Nevertheless, things seemed to be going well until John Sheppard had appeared on the view screen informing her that Daniel was still too ill to meet and that, per Dr. Carson Beckett's orders, would need another week to recover.

Then, all hell broke loose.

"He's a coward like the rest of them! And it was Sheppard that called! Sheppard! He's the biggest coward of them all. He's been afraid of me since day one and now he's convinced their latest patsy to bend to his will!" Ford raged from the table, his fellow enzyme fueled muscle heads nodding in approval.

Just like a bunch of drugged up men, Vala thought, quick to scream and ignore all reason.

"He's sick; they called to tell us as much when we left. Dr. Beckett says this is a normal illness here in the Pegasus and Daniel had no immunity," Vala tried to reason, those black eyes glaring down at her.

"It's a ruse!" he now accused, "I know that's happened to them before, they would have prepared for a situation like this! It's an excuse!"

"Trust me," Vala tried to remain casual, a smirk on her face, "Daniel's a damn workaholic and the biggest 'let's all get along' person I have ever met. He's got to be pretty sick to not make this meeting and this is probably something that no one thought of."

"Then why was it John? Why did he inform you and not us? Why in the hell are you sitting here like this doesn't matter?!"

She'd had enough. This little piss ant had no right to talk to her like that and she didn't need to take this. Standing from her chair, Vala slammed it back into the table, exiting out the side door to head back for the jumper and inform John that this former teammate of his was an unreasonable moron.

"Everyone to their stations!" Vala heard behind her as she crossed the threshold, "if Dr. Jackson doesn't want to come to us then we will go to him!"

"Like hell," Vala whispered under her breath, her eyes darting around to get her bearings.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Did you send it?" Adrienne asked from around the corner of the office, John peering up from the desk.

"They were close enough to get a video transmission so I spoke to her, explained the situation," he answered curtly.

"Good, she'll take care of it; she's good with tchews," the Cajun offered with a smile as John didn't say a word, looking back at the desk.

"He didn't mean it," she added, John gazing back up again.

"Oh, yeah he did," the colonel answered quickly.

"If he meant it he would have made Rodney the number two, not me. Making me number two is akin to throwing a tantrum and running home to mommy," Addy tried to joke, not a single smile on John's face.

"In this scenario, in case you missed it, I'm mommy," she continued.

"Addy, look, I appreciate and understand what you're trying to do, but momentary anger or not, Daniel didn't trust me to run this city. I've run this city, I flew this city home. I might not want his job, but I can damn well do it," John said, as calmly as possible. Adrienne couldn't do anything but nod, he was right, this was something he and Daniel would have to get past once he was feeling better and back in charge. The worst part was that she could see both sides of the argument, John had, after all, seemed to think Todd could just walk around freely and Daniel really shouldn't have done what he did, given his years of professional experience and leadership, fear of a Wraith threat or not.

She just hoped it was something they could repair.

"If you need anything John, just call me," she said quietly.

"I will," he answered, eyes back on screen.

"I didn't know, really," she just couldn't hold back, afraid now of losing a friendship herself.

"I know you didn't," his voice was somewhat normal, making her feel a little better.

Not wanting to disturb him further, Adrienne slipped out, planning to stop by Davidson's station to make sure that there was nothing that Daniel needed to know.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Vala was sitting in the pilot's chair, plotting the course for home, her new home, hoping to beat the Hive in the race back to the city. She was glad she had the thought before she left, talking to Ronon about Addy putting pulse grenades in her bra. It had made her think to stash a few timed grenades in her own under garments, just enough to blow the hell out of the hull, rendering it at least temporarily disabled. Now she just needed to get out of here before they went off. Going through the checklist, Vala was just about ready to leave when she heard footsteps racing behind her, making her draw her weapon and point it without looking.

"Please do not shoot!"

It was Kanaan, Vala not dropping her aim for a moment.

"Why are you here?" she hissed, remembering him clearly sitting at the table as she left.

"Because I left my son once and I refuse to leave him again," his answer was simple and convincing, enough so Vala dropped her weapon.

"And your people?" she asked as Kanaan breathed in deeply.

"They are enamored with Ford. It will take far more than my words for them to see truth again. They are scared," he admitted something she could tell was hard to admit, that he didn't need to explain further.

"Hurry, I set bombs to disable the hull - "

"Did you place them under the first layer of organic material, because you cannot do any real damage unless the explosion is inside..."

The voice that had interrupted her was not Kanaan's, it was a voice that she had never heard before but didn't need an introduction. Standing behind the Athosian was Todd, the missing Wraith, the one who had clocked her stupidly brave friend upside her big Cajun head as he escaped, a large bag flung over his shoulder.

"If so, they will go into high alert almost immediately and with that imbecile leading the charge, high alert with weapons so I suggest you close the hatch and get us out of here," he continued, stepping inside as if he belonged here.

"Hell no, get off of my ship," she spat, her gun at the ready again.

"Technically speaking, it is your beloved Dr. Jackson's ship, and I will not be leaving. Aiden Ford is a madman," he replied, Vala noticing the bag he was carrying. It seemed to be filled with a heavy load and he was treating it as though it were precious to him. Kanaan too seemed thoroughly confused, standing out of the way and staring back and forth between the two of them.

"If you don't back your blue ass out of this damn jumper right down I'm gonna blast a hole right through you!"

The Wraith however didn't say a word, kneeling onto the ramp and opening the bag.

"Come on," he said into the sack, "I need you to say something to them otherwise we're both dead."

Vala stood back as the bag started to move, a wiggle back and forth until a head popped out, small hazel eyes looking at her.

"Can you help me?"


	8. Chapter 8 - No More Running

_My apologies in the lateness of my post, I have been VERY busy lately. _

_There is a love scene, which is cleaned up for this version, but my Erotics section has the more descriptive text. _

_I hope you enjoy and thank you for continuing with me on this adventure. I am up to the drafts for chapter 22, so there is much more to come! _

"I love having someone to come home to," Adrienne heard his voice from the main door, spinning and smiling to see Daniel entering.

"I love having someone come home to me since I can't work with him anymore," she teased as she reached out, taking him into her arms.

Nope, she thought, as insane as you drive me I will never get tired of this, burying her head into his chest.

"That's not fair," he hugged her tightly, kissing her head, "we worked together all day yesterday, you can't say that."

"You spoiled me for years on Earth," she joked as she pulled away, pecking his lips lightly before trailing, not letting go of his fingers. Jack kept teasing her, both of them really, about how the honeymoon period would be over soon, but at a year and a half of marriage and nearly three years together, she wasn't sick of any of this in the least.

"Nicky back yet?" Daniel asked, letting himself be led, tossing his things on the chair carelessly.

"Came home over an hour ago, but he won't tell me what he and Jack are working on," she said over her shoulder, Daniel raising his eyebrows as he followed her to the back of their suite.

"Must be good, either that or it's something that we've told him not to do."

"They seem to be having fun though," Adrienne shrugged, hoping that whatever it was that it had nothing to do with puddle jumpers, the bane of her existence.

"Are you ready to head down for dinner?" Daniel asked, finally pulling away, "I'm starving."

"Actually," his wife smiled, reaching for his hand again, "Nicholas and I have been making something for you..."

"Really?" he seemed surprised. It wasn't because he didn't think she could cook, he knew she could, but she really hadn't had the time to do that since they arrived here and that was something they had talked about when he had recovered from what Jack was calling 'SpaceMan Mono.'

They needed to spend more time together, all of them, as a family, and spend less time existing and not living.

Cooking dinner at home was exactly the way they could do it.

"And Teyla and Torrin," Adrienne added carefully, "We wanted to have a family meal." Biting her lip cautiously, she watched as her husband paused, considering her words. They talked about a lot of things, some very personal intimate things as well, but Daniel was still guarded about his childhood to an extent, and Adrienne didn't push him. She knew how important family was to him though, having felt lost and forgotten, but she wasn't sure how he felt about this. It wasn't intentional, it was her own upbringing; family not necessarily being people who shared the same blood, a family being a huge extension of people that you loved.

She had just never asked him before what family meant to him.

"Sha," Adrienne started to explain, taking a breath before continuing, "she's two months along now. Two of ten long months. And it's our child she carrying, our child, and I just think that sometimes..."

Next thing she knew he was shutting her up like she did to him so very often, pressing his lips slowly to hers, kissing her softly. She melted into him as she always did, sliding her hand behind his head, the tips of her fingers into his hair. He chuckled at her insistence, pulling away from her grasp to run his fingers down her jawline.

"She's family ja-wer, you don't have to explain," he smiled, her smile, he meant it, making her feel instantly better, "What did you make?"

He didn't care, changing the subject quickly to his never ending appetite.

"I did the best I could, there were no real ingredients on the last supply run, but we made Mole Poblano, home made from replicator ingredients!" she announced proudly, hoping that the meal was a good as it looked, too scared herself to try.

"Mexican?" he sounded excited.

"Yes. Mexican," she was happy to confirm, watching the grin spread across his face as he reached out, kissing her again.

"I love you," he said with such sincerity as he pulled away, Adrienne choking up slightly.

_I want to give you what you lost Daniel..._

Composing herself, Adrienne skipped ahead to the kitchenette, letting the smell of the food take her mind off of her husband's hidden past.

It had taken three days, primarily because Vala was stalling. Todd wasn't the issue, she knew Daniel was going to go off the deep end when she tried to explain that John was right, that for some reason this Wraith was on their side after all; it was the child.

Biologically speaking the age wasn't right. Adria should be a few years older, probably three years older if she was correct in her guessing, had she not died.

Been neutralized Vala, she told herself, if her mind had not been corrupted and then she had to be trapped in battle with Morgan La Fey...

She pushed away the thought, leaning back into the captain's chair letting her eyes gaze over at the girl who was asleep in the copilot's seat.

There had been no way of knowing what was in the bag and for a split second when Todd slammed it into the floor of the jumper Vala knew for sure that it was a bomb. A child that was the spitting image of her daughter, her poor lost daughter, was not what she could have ever expected.

Saurza, she made herself say the name over and over, it's not Adria, it's Saurza, was a strong girl, her plea for help not one of fear but a simple request, would they take her away from hell. Vala had only hesitated to assure herself that she was awake, that this wasn't a nightmare, that she wouldn't awaken on an Ori ship with no hope of saving her child. This child wasn't Adria, though, that much was clear, she was assertive, independent and unscathed, by the evil of the Ori at least. She wasn't a talkative kid, but she answered Vala's questions, explaining that her family was just her dad, her mother had been killed in an attack on their ship when she was very young, a ship Saurza said was a trade vessel. Her description of the ship, however, and how her family moved around made it sound more like her parents were bounty hunters, but they probably told the girl that they were traders to protect her, so Vala didn't say a word.

That was the real reason that she was stalling.

Todd, fine, Daniel would throw another damn fit, John and he would argue about it again before someone finally clued in that while temporarily incapacitated, Aiden Ford was pissed off. Kanaan had been in a haze the entire trip home and Vala knew he was torn between his people that he left behind and his own family. She only hoped that Teyla could repair the damage. And while she wasn't afraid of what Daniel would say about the child, he would never turn away a child she knew, it was Ronon who she was most concerned with.

Vala Mal Doran had felt affection before and attachment, probably strongest with Daniel than with anyone else but Ronon?

Ronon Dex made her finally understand why Addy spent so much time whining in her room for so long about Daniel.

She hated to use the word love to describe how she felt about Ronon, but that was most likely because that's what it was. She had told him she loved him, it seemed the thing to do and it was how she rationalized it, but there was still so much of her that was terrified of losing him, of losing herself to commitment. Now she was bringing a child into the mix, because after Saurza told her how she'd watched Ford's Wraith murder her father, how they told her the children were put on growth hormones to make them better food, how she lay on the cold floor of a cell watching other people eaten, Vala was never going to let this child out of her sight.

Even if it meant losing Ronon, which was tearing her apart.

Adrienne was happy to see Daniel back in their quarters at a reasonable hour, and well, content. Things had been tense since John had confronted her husband once he was well, since Daniel had to offer an explanation, one that Adrienne had tried to convey to John herself; at least, what she was certain was his train of thought.

When John had taken Todd out of holding, Daniel changed the access codes to Adrienne's information, making her second in command on the computer systems only, systems that had Todd been able to gain access to would have given him top secret information on the city. Had John gone to get a jumper, called command, or anything else in a real emergency things would have proceeded as normal, he as the interim commander of Atlantis. Essentially, what Daniel had done was given the computer nerd that he trusted the most the computer power, and had just forgotten to inform anyone about that.

It was still a dumb idea and after Todd escaped and Ford rose from the dead he had never bothered to change it back. Regardless, John seemed less angry hearing it from Daniel and Sam, but that could have been a front for all Adrienne knew.

However, she couldn't really tell since just as soon as that tension had started to ease that very Wraith in question had shown back up on base, alive and well, his hand starting to grow back.

That had been an interesting evening...

As was seeming to be their Atlantis normal, Daniel had been summoned by his never sleeping bridge commander, in the middle of the night, waking Adrienne this time before he left, assuring her with a kiss that everything was alright. It hadn't been her husband that called her down to join them, it had been Jack, who'd let himself into their quarters, storming his way right into their bedroom.

"Up and at 'em Dr. Perky, your boy toy is about to explode!"

Adrienne remembered rolling over, thinking it was a dream, why in the hell was Jack O'Neill in her bedroom yapping at her about Daniel, when the blankets were ripped off of her body and the pillow from under her head.

"What in da 'ell Jack!?" she swore, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Get your ass up!" he ordered, walking over to face her, "I'll get junior, you get dressed. Your best buddy just showed up with Teyla's husband and John's blue friend."

"WHAT?!" Adrienne was up, she was more than up, she was heading to the dresser stripping off her pajamas as she ranted, "When? Where? Are they there? Did Todd take the ship?"

"Dammit Addy, I don't need the strip show. They're all in the jumper bay, Vala called ahead for Dex to bring down security, who called Davidson, who called Daniel, who is ready to kill Vala," Jack explained, turning away as clothing flew.

"Why?"

"Because, she's letting that Wraith walk around like he belongs here because he saved some kid's life," the general added, Adrienne stopping in her tracks.

"A kid?"

"Yeah, claims she was gonna be blue bug food so the good Wraith of the North smuggled her out. She's going on and on about how she's not gonna let anyone but Carson touch the child, she's not gonna leave the kid's side and how Todd's going back to prison over her dead body," Jack said, peeking behind him to see if Nicholas was stirring.

"He sleeps like me, we'll have to get him up," Adrienne said before redirecting the conversation, "so on a scale of one to I should bring a zat or a sedative, how's my husband's temperament?"

"It's about at I'm too old for this shit and am gonna crash on your couch, let the boy sleep and let YOU deal with Daniel."

"Good to know," Adrienne answered, pulling a t-shirt over her sports bra, "don't let Nicky replicate donuts for breakfast."

With that she was gone, the door sliding closed behind her.

"Fat chance of that Dr. Perky," Jack laughed, grabbing one of the blankets he had jerked off of his friend's wife, making his way to the sofa.

She should have brought a zat.

The scene in the jumper bay was right out of a bad movie. Vala stood nose to nose with Daniel, a small dark-haired and caramel skinned girl who could have been no more than six or seven years old in her arms. Kanaan was some distance away, talking to Jennifer Keller, while Ronon Dex was standing back his arms crossed at his chest as if he was deciding whether to take the side of his boss or his lover, his eyes locked on the jumper.

"He saved HER LIFE!"

"SINCE WHEN DO WRAITH SAVE LIVES!"

"How in the HELL do you think this damn city got to Earth in the first place DANIEL!"

"John flew it there Vala, but you wouldn't know since you don't READ MISSION REPORTS!"

"With TODD'S help you fuckin' IDIOT!"

"Vala let Jenn take the girl and we can discuss the Wraith's fate with Dex," Adrienne noticed Daniel taking a breath before he spoke this time, calming himself, practicing Kelnareen as Teal'c suggested he do when they chatted briefly via the stones on a Destiny check-in.

"His NAME is TODD and I am NOT leaving Saurza for a MOMENT and I am NOT LEAVING until I see that TODD is given quarters and not a prison cell!" she shot back, the vein in Daniel's head throbbing.

That's not good...

"You going down there?" a voice asked behind her, Adrienne peering over her shoulder to see Sam and John approaching, the latter a smile on his face as the words passed his lips.

"You're second in command. I'm just the back-up computer nerd, I thought we cleared that up," she tried to joke, the shouting still raging on as she caught the subject in question standing at the mouth of the jumper hatch, Ronon eyeing him carefully.

"I was hoping to pull the 'he's yours' card," John said with a shrug, Adrienne shaking her head.

"Nope, right now he's all yours sir," she said, patting him on the back, quickly stepping back to join Sam.

"John, I really think it's best that you head down there," Sam added, John nodding his head.

"Oh, I know, there was just part of me that hoped to avoid this. Wish me luck," the colonel requested, walking briskly toward the argument.

"Thank God someone with a brain!" Vala moaned seeing John approach, Daniel gazing over as well not noticing Adrienne.

Good, she thought, I don't wanna be dragged into this.

"John," Daniel started right in, approaching his second in command, "I'm glad Davidson got a hold of you, could you please escort the Wraith back down to the holding cells and post guards at the wait."

"John, could you please inform Daniel that yet again this Wraith has managed to save our asses!" Vala spat, John frowning.

"Wait, hold on, what happened?" John said as he held up his hands, waving them, Vala taking a breath as she adjusted the child at her hip.

"When Daniel cancelled the meeting..."

"Postponed..."

"When Daniel was too sick to meet with Ford, Ford flipped shit, said he wasn't going to be fooled, typical big bad guy crap and that he was gonna attack. So, I bombed the shit out of their hull, at least enough to stop them for a while. I went to the ship and Kanaan was already there and then Todd showed up with Saurza," she explained, pretty calm for Vala, Adrienne noted.

"And Saurza, is the..." John asked, the child whipping around to look at him.

"Me, I'm Saurza," the girl replied, not fearful in the least yet still clinging to Vala. That seemed a bit odd.

"Todd, what's the deal with the girl?" John now questioned, Daniel stepped forward, forehead vein throbbing.

"Why are you asking him?" Daniel spat as John took a breath.

"Ford is insane. He is farming Wraith for enzyme, some larger drones and using humans to feed them. Everything is set up in a lab, bodies and bodies linked to one another. I do not know how it all works but he is keeping your kind in storage, and they are not soldiers, they are weaklings, woman and children," Todd started to explain, Daniel interrupting.

"Since when do you care about women and children?"

"Since he's not like that anymore Daniel!" Vala was whining from behind, Daniel ignoring her as normal.

Todd didn't answer however, keeping his strong gaze on the commander.

"Alright, look, Vala, let Jenn take the girl to the infirmary, look her over and we can -" John was now trying to reason, Vala shaking her head.

"No, I'm going with her."

"Vala," John continued, eyeing Daniel for support, "I think that Daniel will agree we need a meeting of the senior staff at once."

"Great, take Kanaan, he was there," she declared, starting to walk the child out of the jumper bay, Ronon stopping her advance.

"Val, let Jenn take her -"

"No, Ronon, look," she said, pulling away the child's hair, "she's Satedan."

Adrienne wished that she had been close enough to see what was going on, but all she heard from the floor was Ronon's strong voice, his body turning to face her husband.

"I'm gonna take Vala and the girl to the infirmary," he declared in that voice Adrienne knew Daniel wouldn't question. He trusted his head of security, like she thought he trusted John.

"Come as soon as you can," Daniel agreed, glancing back at John, "What about Todd?"

Adrienne noted he called the Wraith Todd, wondering what caused that change.

"I'll vouch for him," John spoke quickly, "after the briefing."

Daniel simply nodded, John indicating that everyone disperse, the tall blue creature that had slammed her in the face following behind the colonel, unencumbered.

Adrienne just stood there for a moment, in shock, until Daniel was standing in front of her, asking about their son.

"Why's a doctor gotta see me? I told you I'm fine. They don't keep dirty food," Saurza argued as she wriggled from Vala's arms, the latter relenting to allow the child to walk on her own two feet.

"It's protocol and I want to make sure you're alright."

"Why?"

Kid had moxy, had to give her credit for that. After everything she'd been through, Vala couldn't blame her.

"Because I like you," she answered, surprising herself. She did like the girl, she reminded her of herself at that age, sassy but careful.

The child just made a face.

"Can you humor me?" Vala asked, "I did make sure you didn't become an enzyme factory."

"True..." the child responded, cocking her head back at Vala, "who's the big guy?"

"He's the head of security."

"Does he think I'm a threat?" Saurza asked, Vala noting her use of a word beyond her years.

"No."

"Then why is he following?"

Because he loves me just didn't seem the appropriate response, so Vala shrugged, hoping that would be enough.

"Is he your husband?"

Damn this kid is relentless, Vala thought, frowning.

"No, but he is my..." she searched for a word that was appropriate, what was he, her lover, no you don't say lover to a child..

"Boyfriend?" she now tried.

Vala couldn't help but smile.

"Yea, he is," she answered laughing.

"He's cute, nice work," the girl answered, Vala reaching to push her to walk faster.

"Keep moving, we can discuss boys later," she joked, her stomach still in knots over the question.

There was a new level of exhaustion that Dr. Adrienne Jackson was becoming accustomed to, so much so she had given it a name.

Damn Indy Promotion exhaustion or DIP, because that is what she felt like right now, a dip. They could have stayed on Earth, continued working in the lab, stayed in their beautiful home, but NOOOO, she had to push her husband to live his dream.

"Ja-wer?" Daniel said from beside her in the bed, seeing through her ruse. She wasn't asleep, how could she sleep, after everything that happened today.

After Daniel agreeing to let Todd have quarters, though he was confined to them and they were guarded.

"Yea," she whispered back, rolling onto her side, away from him.

"You're quiet," he observed, "and you were quiet at dinner. Nicholas is worried."

Liar, she thought, you're the one that's worried.

"No, I'm just tired. He was showing me something in his journal, it's a translation, I'm gonna help him tomorrow, but, I'm just tired," she lied. She was worried about Todd and she was more worried about Ronon and Vala.

After the briefing, Todd and Kanaan just adding details to Vala's short synopsis of the events on Ford's ship, Adrienne excused herself to get Nicholas and head down to the infirmary, hoping that if the child wasn't carrying any illness that she would take solace in having another child to chat with. That and Nicholas was smart enough where he could play the advanced toddler, at age one nearly the size of a three year old now, but be smart enough to note important information she and Daniel may need later.

The girl, Saurza Sincha was her name, claiming her father was someone that Ronon knew, checked out alright and was happily chatting away to Nicky about things to do in the city. It was then, as Adrienne went to intervene, to ask the child some questions herself that Vala tapped her arm, pulling Adrienne over to the side.

"Addy can I ask you something?" Vala questioned, oddly timid as Carson stepped away to let the children talk.

"Sure," she replied, looking up to see if her son was in earshot, which he was, but was eyeing the girl more carefully.

"How did you know?"

The question confused Adrienne as she watched Nicky explain fishing to this clearly unfrightened girl.

"Know what?"

"Know that Daniel was it for you?" she clarified, Adrienne pausing, glancing over.

"You mean when I fell in love with him?" she asked as Vala shook her head, darting her gaze between Adrienne and the Satedan child.

"No, I mean when you understood that there was no one else for you. That Daniel would be the person you spent the rest of your life with."

Oh that, Adrienne thought, shrugging.

"I think I always knew. There was just something there, right from the start, something that just didn't sit right. I mean, I'd have a bad day or just a headache and calling Daniel was the first thing I'd think to do, like it was what I was supposed to do," she gave the best explanation that she could, remembering when she realized that for all of her insistence that she would never marry that she essentially had just let herself fall into being Daniel's wife before either of them realized it.

"I'd call Ronon," Vala whispered quietly, Adrienne leaning to make sure she heard her.

"What?"

"When I get," Vala paused, swallowing, "upset. I used to call you, but then I called Ronon, and now, I wait until we are back at our quarters or I go to his office."

Adrienne couldn't help but smile. Sure, she missed talking to Vala so much, the crazy woman was really like a sister to her, but she deserved this.

Vala Mal Doran was in love with Ronon Dex, Adrienne was sure.

"Why do you ask?" Adrienne thought, stating the obvious, "I thought you guys were..."

Vala frowned, sighing out, looking back at the girl and Nicholas, "We are, I mean, we share quarters but, ugh, maybe I've just been watching too many stupid movies."

"I told you romantic comedy was the work of Hades," Adrienne joked, "Have you talked to him?" Again, Vala shook her head.

"No, Ronon's not a talker. It's part of what I like about him."

Adrienne couldn't resist, "And to think you wanted Daniel. That man never shuts up..."

"You two probably talk during sex," Vala teased as her friend blushed profusely.

They did.

A lot.

And not what normal people might say.

"I knew it," she accused.

"It's not what you think," Adrienne shot back quickly.

"I know way too much about you two, so let's just stop," Vala replied, something that Adrienne never thought she'd hear the woman say.

"You need to ask him," the Cajun said eliciting a powerful sigh from her friend.

"Ask him what exactly?"

"Ask him where he thinks this is going..."

And yet another sigh...

"Addy, I don't know where this is going; I know where I want this to go, but..."

Adrienne's jaw dropped, "Wait, Vala, do you want to marry Dex? Like, not just have a good time but marry him?"

"No," Vala spat immediately, "weddings are stupid, marriage is stupid."

"You weren't saying that last year..." Adrienne said with a smile, Vala grumbling.

"It's role reversal you know, you in here, whining to me," the Cajun added, eyes rolling her first answer.

"Stop reminding me."

"For what it's worth," Adrienne stopped smiling, reaching out for her friend's hand, "he wasn't going to leave. He was going to give up the only life he knew after being a runner for you..."

But there was something in Vala's words, a fear, and Adrienne caught her once more looking at the child...

"Ad?" Daniel's face was in her own, his nose touching hers, "are you ok?"

"I said I was tired," she grumbled as her husband rolled her onto her back.

"Are you upset I let the Wraith..."

"Todd..."

"Todd, are you upset I let Todd stay in the housing wing?" he asked but Adrienne shook her head.

"No, I think John's right about him. He's different; he actually wouldn't even make eye contact with me during the briefing. I think he feels bad," she whispered.

"Wraith don't feel," Daniel countered.

"I think this one does..." and she trailed again.

"So this is about Todd?" he tried, Adrienne finally rolling to her side to face him.

"No, it's not. I'm fine, it's nothing," she insisted not wanting to vent Vala's love life to Daniel.

"Promise?"

"Yes Indy," she said with a smile, "I promise."

"Then why are you over there?" he teased, pouting his lip slightly as he reached out his arms. She smiled, damn Daniel always made it so much damn better, rolling back over and into his embrace, burying into his chest.

"Make love to me," she shocked herself with her words, having never requested that of him before verbally. She wasn't sure how he'd react until she felt fingers at her chin, her face being pulling upright as he pulled her closer to him, bringing his lips to her own. She kissed him softly, taking solace in the touch of his skin against her own as he was pushing up her tank top to slowly undress her. Worry was gone, as she reached her hands downward, cautiously teasing. Normally they talked, teased, giggled, but not tonight, she could tell by the moment of his mouth against her own and the speed with which he had already removed her shirt, now moving to her pajama pants with equal haste. She hadn't realized he was feeling the same, that urgent desire to be with the one constant in their lives, each other, was what they needed right now. Pulling back Adrienne jerked his boxers from his body and Daniel sat up, ripping his shirt from his head and throwing it aside, reaching down for her to take her gently into his arms to fulfill her request.

She couldn't help but hiss in, it had been at least a week since they had been intimate, Adrienne vowing that a week was far too long and she would never let that happen again. A tickling sensation coursed down her spine as he nibbled her neck, shoving her back onto the bed. She didn't fight back, for as much as she loved the sensitive side of her husband she also loved to give herself to him, to be vulnerable and let him have the power. Reaching for his head, she brought their lips together again, kissing him passionately as he made love to her, chills running through her body.

"Euai!" Daniel shouted out suddenly, Adrienne clamping her hand over his mouth in a panic. She tried so hard to keep him quiet, but the sensation was taking over her body, sending her into a frenzy herself as she moved her hands from his face to his bare hips. There was the build, Daniel murmuring her name into her neck as she rode the wave of pleasure he was creating.

And then it was over, Daniel holding himself over her like he always did, as if he was so afraid to hurt her, which he never could.

"What's with the Greek?" she couldn't help but tease, biting her lip.

"We're married," he replied, "which means I have to come up with new and creative ways to impress you."

"And we went with yelling out Ancient Greek during sex?"

A pillow slammed into her face.

"Ja-wer, you're so awful to me," he laughed and was climbing off, his naked silhouette standing and walking away.

"I'm awake, do you want to get in the tub?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Round two?" she asked.

"Maybe," he shrugged, walking away laughing.

She'd let herself worry about Vala in the morning...

"Why do we have to go back?" Saurza said from Vala's bed, the girl looking so small amongst the pile of blankets. It was cold on this planet and Ronon only kept her so warm, so she just cuddled up to him and layered on the covers. That is, when she got to sleep in her bed. Last night, after the excitement of the arrival died down, Vala brought the girl back to her room, using that replication machine that Sam modified to make the child some clothes. It was nothing fancy, but it was clean, quickly tossing her old clothes in the incinerator.

"It's SGC regulation," Vala explained, wishing that Ronon could have joined her on the sofa last night, it was cold but he'd wanted to guard Todd's room himself, had insisted on guarding Todd's room himself, "if you're to stay on Atlantis then you must have a full physical, not just a sick scan or whatever the hell Carson called it, but they have to start a file."

"I get to stay?"

The question threw Vala off guard; what else did the girl think was happening?

"Of course. Daniel doesn't send people off when they have nowhere to go..."

And sometimes, he marries the vagabonds when they show up in his lab, but she kept her snide remarks quiet.

"Is Daniel your cute boyfriend's name?" she asked, Vala laughing out loud.

"No," she choked out, a million thoughts running through her head, "Ronon is my..." she couldn't say the word, what in the hell was wrong with her, "Daniel is the idiot who I was screaming at."

"Ronon is cuter."

Vala just rubbed her face unable to believe the mouth on this kid.

"Thank you, but don't let Addy hear you say that," she joked, pulling clothes from the nice pile of new replicated garb.

"Who's Addy?"

"My friend," Vala explained as she passed an outfit over, "one of my best friends. She came down with her son to see you yesterday. She's Daniel's wife."

"Poor her," Saurza said, taking the clothes and standing from the bed, "he doesn't seem very nice."

Vala erupted into laughter.

"He is, he just doesn't want his son to get killed by the Wraith," she added, turning to allow the girl privacy.

"Nicholas is his son?"

"Yes," Vala replied over her shoulder.

"He's weird, still small and super smart, but he's nice. His Mom seemed nice too."

"She is," Vala answered quickly, "she's like my sister."

"You didn't have to turn around, but I'm dressed now," Saurza announced, Vala turning back to see an everyday child, not the adorable dirtball that had popped out of that bag. She had a bath the night before and now, in normal, clean clothes, Earth jeans and a t-shirt, she looked just like a regular kid.

"Daniel's worried about nothing. Todd can't kill anyone," she added, hopping from the bed happily.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I watched him," Saurza was pulling the blankets back up, making the bed the best she could, "he came to feed where we were being kept and he couldn't. He doesn't like to eat people anymore."

Could that be true?

Vala knew the Wraith had been sustained on the replacement formula for years, but to have him unable to feed on humans anymore? That just seemed odd, like that vampire show she and Addy watched and the synthetic formula that let the creatures live amongst humans, but she had witnessed stranger things.

"Stop stalling, Dr. Beckett's waiting," Vala answered instead, ushering the girl from cleaning and out the door.

So, yeah, the Wraith was at breakfast.

Adrienne was tired, stupid Daniel stupidly kept her up all night, doing...

_Stop Addy stop..._

_Damn distracting Daniel..._

Regardless, she'd rather have rations or replicated food then attempt to cook something without causing a fire, so she dragged her son out of bed, fighting him to put on clothes while Daniel got dressed.

Didn't really seem equitable.

The three walked together to the commissary, Daniel giving Adrienne a rundown of his schedule for the day which she already knew but she liked to hear him tell her anyway. Her stomach rumbling with hunger, she could smell the egg wafting out of the front entrance when there was a tug at the leg of her uniform pants.

"Mom?"

Frowning she looked down at Nicholas, not wanting to hear his excuses as to why he needed to get to Sam and Jack's early, he wasn't even two, odd growth spurt or not, and he had no schedule to which he had to adhere to other than her own.

"What beb?" she asked sweetly, not wanting to lash out at him because she hadn't had coffee yet.

"Todd's at breakfast."

And for the second time in less than twenty four hours, Adrienne was starting to regret not carrying a zat on her person at all times.

"Calm Indy..." she whispered, reaching out for her husband's arm as he came to a screeching halt

"They don't need to eat ja-wer...food anyway...they eat people...like our son..."

"Actually Dad what they do is..."

Daniel shot the boy a look and he shut up, Adrienne taking a breath. Sighing, she glanced over at Todd, who was sitting at a table beside John, eating something that wasn't a person, two armed guards eyeing him.

"He's eating now..." Adrienne offered, Daniel shaking his head.

"Yea, he likes Reese's Pieces," he answered Adrienne cracking up, "I know the reference ja-wer, not now," he fussed in a heartbeat. Adrienne rolled her eyes.

"Daniel," she reasoned calmly, turning his gaze to meet her own, "I trust John and I know you do. He's not doing this to piss you off."

"If he wanted to do that Dad, he'd just take away your coffee," Nicky added with a grin.

"Not now Nicholas," Adrienne hissed.

"Just trying to help..."

"Fine, since neither of you seem to find this abnormal in the least, I'm gonna go in there and eat my morning meal with the enemy," he declared smartly walking into the commissary without them.

"Nicholas," Adrienne said reaching for his hand, "Life lesson number one. Tantrums do you no good. Your father will eventually self-destruct."

"Dad said lesson number one was always have coffee," the boy replied.

"Of course he did," Adrienne muttered, dragging their son in to eat.

Her husband was very civil at breakfast, even mentioning to John the day's staff meeting right in front of Todd. She was forcing herself to call him Todd since it appeared that the Wraith was finally accepting that as his name. Teyla had said that he was a Guide, basically a male hive leader in a past life, but that since he had turned his back on the hive a second time that would most likely be a moniker he could never use again.

Trying to act as if everything was normal, Adrienne sat there, chatting with Teyla about adjusting their training schedule as Teyla's middle was just beginning to swell a touch, though Adrienne couldn't tell as much as the Athosian claimed to be seeing herself. They decided to replace some of their sparring with more guided, individual practice when Adrienne noticed that Vala was not a breakfast.

"Wait," Adrienne said, looking around the room as Daniel sat beside her, rambling on to John about Rodney's gate bridge reconstruction plan, "where's Vala?"

"In the infirmary," Teyla smiled, "she will not leave Saurza."

Frowning, Adrienne peeked over to see if Daniel was listening, which he wasn't, glancing back at Teyla in concern.

"Is she ill?" the Cajun was worried, she had allowed her child yesterday to spend a considerable amount of time with the girl, but Teyla was shaking her head.

"No, Carson just wanted to run a total physical this morning, so he requested that Vala bring the girl back, get her a file started..." Teyla answered, Adrienne shaking her head.

"Wait? Start a file?"

"Yes Adrienne," her tone sounded as if she thought her cajun friend was missing something, "she has nowhere to go. Her father was killed by Ford's people, and she never knew her mother. She was killed when she was very young."

It was at that moment that her entire conversation with Vala yesterday made sense, the giggle from the end of the table as Nicholas was laughing at some silly story by Radek Zalenka only confirming her opinion.

Vala wanted that child.

And to have a child meant a kind of sacrifice that Adrienne herself now knew all too well, a sacrifice of sleep, time, energy that she would never trade for anything. It also, however, meant a sacrifice of Daniel, Daniel who had become a constant presence in her life, literally, even when they were merely close friends. Her time, love and loyalties were divided now...

"I think so too," Teyla added as she leaned forward, Torren now wailing in hysterical laughter from beside her own son, "she wants what she has never been able to have."

"Should I go to talk to Dex, do you think -"

"Hey," and Daniel's face was in her own, kissing her cheekbone, "staff meeting now Ad, not Cajun time."

"I've been very good in this galaxy Daniel Anthony," she defended with a smile as he shook his head, mimicking zipping his mouth.

"Tchew," she playfully spat as he left, smiling as she watched him walk away.

_God I love that man..._

"And he loves you the same," Teyla spoke again, making Adrienne blush. She always forgot about her friend's more empathic side, although at times it seemed to be more telepathic than anything else, "and yes, perhaps someone should speak with Ronon. Maybe there will be a chance after the meeting."

"Yea, I'll see what nonsense Indy's got planned for us," Adrienne stood, collecting her tray before walking over to Nicholas.

"Nicholas," Adrienne said, kneeling at the boy's side, resisting the urge to hug him. He'd asked her not to do that in public; he said it reminded people that he was a baby, which was growing less and less apparent as the days passed by.

She really wished he'd stop growing, and this crazy DNA mess that was making him shoot up a touch faster than normal wasn't helping.

"Mom, Radek was telling us about the time he shut Rodney in the transporters for two hours!" the boy was trying to say between fits of laughter, Torren's head on the table as he cackled.

"Something I hope he is not giving you the details as to how to do," Adrienne replied, trying to hold back her smile.

"Of course not Adrienne - " Radek started, Nicky spinning around on his seat with a grin on his face.

"Actually, mom, it's quite simple. Because the entire transporter system is tuned into the central mainframe, it is possible with the correct codes.."

"No," Adrienne laughed out, setting her face in her hands, "just let me go on with my life thinking that you're a normal toddler ok?"

"Mama up!" the boy requested, holding out his arms.

"Not funny, stop being smart like your father. Let's get you to Jack," she said as Nicholas stood, saying goodbye to Torren and Zalenka. With a smile Adrienne turned, checking her watch to see if she was going to be late as Daniel had teased when she felt a hand slip into the one dangling at her side. Hiding the expression spreading across her face, she cut her eyes down slyly to see her son holding her hand tightly.

"Todd seemed nice," he observed, explaining the unsolicited acknowledgment that he had parents.

"He did," Adrienne had to agree, the Wraith had been well behaved, looking at her a few times with a guilty look on his face.

"Do you think he's gonna eat us, like Dad says?"

"No," Adrienne answered quickly, not even thinking. She didn't, though, she just couldn't see in this particular being the sheer horror that she had read about. The Wraith hadn't sat with them, taking a position beside John at the end of the table, the complete opposite side of her son and his friend.

"I don't think so either," he replied as they turned the corner headed down the hall. He was deep in thought and Adrienne didn't want Nicholas to dwell like she was sure that he was genetically predisposed to doing.

"So what are you and Jack working on?" she asked, her technique working as the boy's face broke out into a grin.

"Remember those Athosian blocks?"

"Yeah..."

"Teyla knew exactly what they were. I took them to her and she filled in where the letters had worn off but when she was doing it I got this idea," he started, pulling his hand away to let his arms flail, so much like Daniel.

"I'm listening," she smiled.

"They were learning blocks, to teach Athosian children, and Dad says that he wants the city to be full of families. Your DATA idea got me thinking Mom, that's great for older kids, but what about younger ones? And there are so many different alphabets and languages here in the Pegasus, what if I could make a set of blocks that was universal?"

Adrienne stopped in her tracks. Firstly, Nicholas was merely fifteen months old biologically regardless of his mental age or his rapidly changing physical form; how did this idea come to him? Secondly, what a selfless thing to do. Here he could be, fishing, playing, getting Jack to let him fly more jumpers which she knew damn well that he was doing despite what Daniel believed, but instead he wanted to teach the other children on the base, children that were not even here yet.

"It's a crazy idea, I know," he said quietly, Adrienne dropping to his eye level.

"No, it's not," she assured as she placed her hands on his shoulders, "it's amazing and I am very proud of you for having the idea."

Smiling brightly Nicky turned, walking just a touch faster than before, his small hand reaching up for her again.

Vala didn't want to be sitting in the briefing but Daniel's radio transmission had been very clear.

ALL senior staff needed to report to briefing room as soon as possible and she was senior staff. It was a funny thing, when she agreed to come she was quite literally coming just for Ronon, chasing yet another man to another world, and she hadn't thought to ask Daniel what she would be doing.

And he didn't bother telling her, directly, but apparently she was their lead of intelligence here as well, which was fine by her. Being sneaky and spying had always been second nature.

"I'd like to let Vala start the meeting, give us details as to what exactly is going on at the hive ship," Daniel began as Adrienne took a seat beside her, late as usual. Even with her husband in charge of the city, the poor woman couldn't get anywhere on time.

"I can't even blame it on you doing him in the lab anymore," Vala joked as she stood to head to the front of the room, Adrienne frowning.

"There's not much to tell, really," she began, glad to not have to deal with a slideshow which was the usual around here,"As you all are aware, Ford agreed to the meeting with the Genii acting as the middle men. When Daniel got sick and couldn't come, he took it as a personal insult and went crazy. Kanaan said it was the drug, that Ford only really had two emotional states now, creepy calm and full on ballistic. We got option two when Glasses couldn't show."

She paused, annoyed to have to be repeating this yet again. They all knew this, she hated having to make everything official, have a briefing, write a report, all of that Earth required bullshit. She'd rather be back in the infirmary with Saurza, making sure that she was alright, that there was nothing wrong; she had gotten all of the proper vaccines and things to make her an official refugee seeking sanctuary at Atlantis.

But then where would she go?

They took in refugees all of the time on Earth, but the children that came had parents or relatives but this girl had no one in the universe...

"Vala?" Daniel was tapping a pen at the table, Vala realizing that everyone was staring right at her making her wonder how long she'd paused.

"What else do you want me to say? He said he was gonna attack the city, so I took some smuggled in pulse grenades I had and shoved them into the hull. I know the damn ships heal, but it should have caused enough damage to cripple it for a while..."

"He'll feed it," John spoke up, his voice solemn, "with those people that Todd found. The ships work like a giant Wraith."

Vala's stomach sank.

If Todd had left Saurza behind she could be feeding that ship right now...

"It was the right call," Daniel spoke quickly, "we need to do what we can to minimize the damage that Ford can cause and there was no way to get those people out of there and on the jumper."

Nice try Daniel, she thought, but that doesn't make me feel better.

"That's it, I set the timer to give me fifteen minutes, raced to the jumper. Kanaan arrived right after me, wanting to get back to Torren in case Ford was attacking and then Todd showed up with the girl," she forced the last words for some reason, unable to say her name, unsure as to why.

"Kanaan said that the Athosians might be using the enzyme, at least the young ones," Daniel added over his shoulder at the table, Vala nodding her head in agreement. Kanaan had said as much on the way back, to both she and Todd, he too trusting the Wraith.

Seemed in fact that everyone did but Daniel, and Ronon, the latter giving her something else to worry about.

"There's a good chance of that," John agreed, "with so few of them left they might turn to it thinking it can help them survive."

"If that's what's happening we need to be prepared. Get Carson and Jennifer working right away on some sort of way to neutralize someone on the enzyme without hurting them in case a zat blast won't take them down. Ronon, I want you to test all of the weapons and shields. Make sure we can defend ourselves if needed. I'm going to use the stones to contact the Destiny, set up a meeting with Cameron and let him know what's going on," Daniel said, standing, silently excusing Vala.

She was glad; she really had nothing else to say on the matter, her thoughts back again on Saurza...

She stood, taking her seat beside Addy, who was rolling her eyes already. This wasn't just a Todd meeting, this was gonna be an all-out staff meeting, Rodney now reporting on the progress of the gate bridge. He requested sending teams again to explore gates on worlds that were not inhabited any longer that the Daedalus or possibly the Daniel Jackson could take to the needed position. It seemed that five gates had to be replaced and two just needed repair, but his scientific mumbo jumbo just flew over her head.

John was next, muttering something about teams going off world to explore again, trying to figure out who had encountered Ford and who hadn't and start to let their allies know that they were back and ready to talk again. He also talked about starting relations with the Genii beyond using them for negotiations, trying to see if their government had made the fundamental changes it needed to no longer be a military dictatorship. She was only half listening, catching bits and pieces, like when Daniel informed his wife that she was going be a member of the first recon team and due to the threat of Ford she would need to carry a P-90.

That made Vala reach out to squeeze Addy's hand. She knew that would be hard for her friend, but Daniel was right; it was necessary.

As the meeting droned on, Radek talking about gardens and food, something about trees, Addy even getting up to give her and Sam's update on the DATA project, but Vala just couldn't stop thinking about the girl.

"That's all I have. If I need a report from you, you know who you are, get those to me as soon as possible so I can figure out what I need to tell Cam immediately and what needs to be sent via our next supply run," Daniel ordered, standing again from his seat, "anything else?"

Vala's hand shot up before she could stop it.

"What's gonna happen to Saurza?"

"Who?" John asked, confused, Vala unsure if he had gotten the girl's name.

"The girl. I know we're taking her as a refugee, but what then? What are we gonna do with her?" she thought she heard her words tremble, feeling a hand under the table at her knee, Addy's hand, reaching her own underneath to squeeze it.

"I'll speak to Cam, see what protocol dictates we do here in the Pegusus," Daniel answered simply. There was nothing else to say, the other staff members excusing themselves one by one, Daniel pulling Adrienne aside as she passed ahead of Vala.

Vala, however, didn't care, racing around her friend, her destination in her mind.

"Ad, I wanted to talk to you, in private," Daniel started, the moment Vala was out of sight, walking over to the door to close it.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, worried, watching the look on his face.

"Yeah, it's fine, I just didn't want to wait until tonight," and he was sitting, indicating that she sit in the chair beside him. Thoroughly confused, she did as he silently requested and the moment she took the seat, Daniel scooted closer to her, their knees touching, taking her hands into his own.

"Adrienne, there are some things I never told you, about growing up," he started, taking a breath before continuing, "You see, no one wants an older child, people only want babies. And a child with baggage, a child who needs extra emotional support, no one..."

He trailed for a moment, Adrienne slipping her left hand from his right, running her hand up to his cheek.

"Ad, I was never adopted," he choked out, licking his lip nervously and then biting it, "no one wanted me, not even my own grandfather and, well, what I'm saying is that no child deserves to be..."

She ran her fingers over to his lips, hushing him, leaning forward to kiss him lightly. She knew where this was going, he hadn't even spent two minutes with the child but he wasn't about to let her suffer his own fate. It was one of the kindest things she had ever known him to suggest, even if she was halting his suggestion, and it made her eyes water, forcing her to sniffle in.

"Not us Daniel, not this time," she whispered, running her fingers along his jawline again.

"Why not? I mean, I'm not suggesting we go down there an announce that we're her new parents, she just got here, it would take time, like Janet had to take with Cassie, but with Nicky and the new baby, we already have an established family unit. What's one more?"

"Sha," Adrienne was shaking her head, "Vala misses Adria. She might say or act otherwise, but we're close. There was a part of being with Tomin that fulfilled her, gave her purpose and the Ori ripped that away..." Adrienne tried to explain what she hoped he would understand, her husband sitting upright with a frown on his face.

"Ad, I can't just let Vala keep that child like it's a puppy," he retorted immediately, understanding completely what his wife was saying.

"You're not. And it's not. Her heart's already decided, like mine had when you were scared I'd have an abortion," she chose her words carefully, remembering the relief on his face when she told him that she wanted to keep the baby, that she wanted to start a family with him, "A mother knows, we just know when nothing else makes sense."

Daniel sat silently for a moment, in thought, considering her words. He knew Vala, he really knew Vala, and he should know that what Adrienne was saying was true. He pulled back completely, save for his left hand, still clasping her fingers lightly.

"But what about Ronon?" he finally spoke, Adrienne smiling softly.

"I think he's gonna surprise her with his response," his wife answered sweetly.

Poor Teyla seemed to have all of the children today, but she needed to talk to Ronon alone. She needed to see Daniel too, get this started, see if this was possible and then talk to Saurza. Ultimately it would be her decision, but Vala needed to make sure that there was even a decision to be made in the first place.

"Val!" he was shouting as Vala left Teyla's quarters, the voices of Nicholas, Saurza and Torren trailing into the hall.

"Hey, walk with me!" she yelled back, slowing down to let him catch up, the handsome tall man jogging to meet her.

"Got your message, everything ok?" he asked as he made it to her side, matching her powerful stride.

"Yeah, I'm on my way to see Daniel, but I needed to talk to you about something," she could hear the nerves in her voice, her heart screaming not to do this, to not scare away this perfect man that she never thought existed.

"About what?" he looked confused, Vala trying look away before she could chicken about.

So she walked faster, reaching the transporter and hitting the button.

"About Saurza," she finally said, the door opening in front of her. Nodding, Ronon held out his hand for her to get in ahead of him, following as she did.

"She ok?"

"Yes," Vala started, "she's fine, she's with Teyla and the other kids but...Dex, I can't leave her."

She'd said it and she almost threw up, the doors to the rapid transport opening to face Daniel's office.

"I know," he responded, holding the door so she could pass, following her again. Vala took a step forward, pausing at the exit to gaze back at him.

_I'm so sorry Ronon..._

"So, I'd understand if you needed to move on," she said, sucking in the tears that she knew were forming in her eyes.

"Nope," he answered quickly.

"Nope what?"

"I don't need to move on," he clarified, this time taking the lead to Daniel's office, "We can raise her."

_WHAT?_

Had she heard him right? And there he went, leaning over to tell Davidson they were here, walking right up to Daniel's door and knocking, Vala frozen until she came to her senses, racing after him.

"We?"

"Yeah, we," Ronon answered, opening the door as soon as he heard Daniel shout 'Come in', "Daniel, ya got a minute?"

"Yea Ronon, do I need to cancel my next meeting?" the commander replied, standing from his chair.

"No, today's checks are fine, Vala and I just needed to talk to you about the Satedan girl," he explained, Daniel nodding his head.

"Yea, Addy said she's the daughter of a friend of yours, do you know if there was any other family?"

"Not exactly a friend, but no, no family," he answered, pointing to the computer, "Val and I wanna take her."

Vala's jaw dropped.

"I need to speak with Cam, but it's been done before, Cassie as you know was Janet's adopted daughter, and there is some paperwork involved and I have to speak to the girl, but I think we can at least get the process started, but you'd have to be patient..." Daniel answered smiling but Ronon was shaking his head.

"No, not that part, I know that'll take a while," he said, Vala utterly lost.

"Ronon I'm not following you," Daniel replied frowning, looking to Vala for an answer that she didn't have.

"We gotta get married first right? Can you call Jack down here?"

Vala almost hit the floor and it looked as if Daniel was ready to do the same.

"I wanna do this right," he added his expression saying that he felt he must have needed an explanation.

"Just don't make me do that wedding crap that you made Addy do," he added one last thing, Daniel reaching slowly for his phone.

Adrienne rubbed her face, pinching the bridge of her nose for some relief. It had to be the flowers, when Vala called her screaming for her to 'get her ass to Daniel's office' because she was going to be marrying Ronon, NOW, Adrienne rushed to the gardens grabbing flowers without thinking.

"You sound stuffy," Daniel noted as she climbed into bed beside where he was reading something on his tablet.

"Atlantica apparently has something I'm allergic too," she explained, "or it's something in Radek's garden."

"You didn't have to bring flowers, she just wanted you there as a witness," he teased as he set the tablet on his nightstand.

"I should have replicated an entire god damn ceremony after what she put me through," Adrienne shot back, sneezing violently into her palm.

"Here," he said, reaching into his nightstand, "take one of these." Opening the bottle, he shook a pill into his hand, recapping the medication and stuffing it into his drawer.

"They're prescribed to you sha," Adrienne argued, hearing her own voice echo in her stuffy head.

"So?"

"So, that's not safe," she argued, not taking the small white tablet.

"Ad, we're married, I think we can share medication," he countered, frowning. She sat up again, considering, starting to reach for her water.

"You sure it's ok?"

"Positive," he answered with her smile, "it's just an allergy pill. Trust me, remember that nerd you like to see in pictures, floppy hair and zinc on his nose? He was a mess before this."

"A cute mess," she teased, kissing his nose.

"Take it ja-wer," he insisted. She paused for a moment, still tossing the idea back and forth in her head until she finally took it, reaching for the vitamin water on her nightstand.

"Tank you Indee," she said through a stuffy nose.

"You're welcome," he replied as she downed the pill, "my cute mess."

Swallowing she smiled, setting her water back before burying herself into his chest. She lay there content, trying to sleep despite her congested head, her thoughts back on what he had said to her today after the briefing.

"Daniel?" she asked, not moving, reaching her arm across his waist.

"Yea."

"You can tell me," she said as she hugged him tighter, just in case she was crossing a line, "about being in foster care. I'll listen."

"I know you will."

His response was so quiet that were it not for the fact that she was laying right on his chest she may not have heard.

"I don't understand, I mean, I can only sympathize, but I hope you know I'm always there."

She felt herself being squeezed, his kiss at her head and his fingers rubbing her back.

"You always have been, from the very beginning."

She let her eyes close again to try to sleep, when Daniel suddenly pulled away, rolling onto his side, pulling her arm around his waist. Adrienne knew that signal, he wanted to be held, so she adjusted, letting him wriggle until he was buried into her instead, backwards at least.

"Dad?" she heard the moment Daniel had adjusted, both of them looking up simultaneously.

"I'm sorry but I had that nightmare again and..."

"Get in," Daniel said immediately, reaching out for their son. Sniffing in, poor Nicholas must have been crying, he crawled up to them where Daniel was reaching out for the boy himself, not moving from his place in Adrienne's arms. He wanted to hold the boy but still be held himself, Adrienne's heart breaking.

Maybe he would tell her one day about this hurt in his heart, but for now she'd just do what she could do.

Tonight, Adrienne Jackson fell asleep, her strong arms wrapped around the men she loved.


	9. Chapter 9 - Just a Day

"So, Rodney says we're gonna need five gates," Daniel concluded, pushing up glasses that weren't there, grimacing in frustration of not being able to complete the habit, "John suggested sending out the recon teams to planets, figure out not only the damage Ford has left in his wake but where we can get gates from without causing disruption. I have him and Sam already going through old files of allies, start there and work out way out."

Young's head nodded in agreement, Cam in deep thought he could tell.

"I'll have Jonas prepare to start heading off world again; we can be searching on this end. If you think of any places in particular you can tell Cavill, the next supply run should be arriving in about three days," the general replied, Daniel nodding in relief.

He was out of Twinkies, which was bad.

He was also weighing in five pounds heavier, which his wife may kill him for, already nagging him that a heart attack was sudden and no healing ability in the world could stop it in advance, and she would know.

Maybe it wasn't good that the supply ship was coming...

"Then the last thing we need is to discuss refugees," Daniel continued, moving his thoughts back to the mental checklist since until said bridge was built it was hop into a body and hope to relay what he could on the Destiny. Today's hoppee was Eli Wallace, a treat he was sure would delight Adrienne, who had started to refer to 'Data' as 'Q', which made NO sense to him but cracked Jack up. She'd been complaining for a while that she wanted Eli to be able to weigh in on the problem so he hoped she was able to utilize the little time she had.

"You gettin' them already? I thought Ford tore the Wraith up," Cam asked, Daniel shaking his head.

"They're from Ford, his ship, just one for now. Todd didn't come back to the base alone, he brought a child," Daniel explained, Young/Cam's eyes widening.

"A kid?"

"Yeah, he was compelled or something to save her, that's his story, but regardless, Ronon and Vala want to adopt her," Daniel explained, figuring he might as well get to the point.

"Both of them?"

"Yeah," Daniel trailed for a moment, trying not to chuckle, "they marched into my office yesterday and requested Jack marry them. On the spot."

"No shit!"

Daniel just nodded.

"Vala Dex?" the general clarified.

"I don't think either of them have thought that far ahead, but I guess technically, yeah," Daniel agreed, adding, he couldn't resist, "Not any weirder than Adrienne Jackson though."

Cam just shrugged.

"I'll get with Telford, start talking about it, but I think we should move very slowly just in case. You guys saw Cassie's family die, but we don't know who could come out of the woodwork in the Pegasus," the general responded. Daniel agreed, the marriage was easy enough to take care of and he knew that Vala had spoken to the child who seemed to be analyzing the situation quite logically, asking that she be allowed time to get to know the couple. Assigning the trio temporary quarters, a bit larger with a room for Saurza, Daniel too was waiting to see if this living arrangement was gonna work out as Vala hoped.

"Sounds good," he replied, sitting back in the chair his mental list finished, "that's it for now. Anything new back home?"

The general shook his head.

"Nothing too exciting. You guys are the extent of our excitement other than the Aetlans helping the Langarans get back on their feet. And Jonas is doing a good job as team leader; he's learned to balance everything pretty well."

"Good to hear, he deserves it," Daniel said, trying to judge his time without his watch, "Well, I need to get back to make sure that Vala isn't trying to con Ronon into some glorious honeymoon; I need my chief of security around," he laughed as he stood, wanting to check on Chloe before he left.

"Vala Dex, I still can't get over that. Oh well, least it's not Adrienne Mitchell, that'd sent you over the edge," Cam replied, straight faced before that very face was blinking in confusion, "Dr. Jackson?"

"Hello Colonel Young," Daniel tried not to growl and roll his eyes at Cameron's last little jab.

Asshole.

He hated how much Cam and Adrienne liked to do that...

"Rush wanted to meet with you before you headed back if you have time before the switch," he added, Daniel nodding as he followed the man through the dank corridors, wondering what else was going on besides Chloe's deteriorating health.

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Nicholas' face was shoved so close to the block that Jack wasn't exactly sure how the boy was able to read anything, but he must have been able to, his small left hand signaling him over. It wasn't that small anymore, Nicholas was getting pretty tall pretty fast, and Jack just hoped that Carolyn's original assumptions about the boy had been correct, that this wasn't like some strange reverse Orlin.

"You got it in place?" he asked, peering over the small shoulder as the child nodded.

"Yeah, do you see where I have my finger? Where the blue wire meets the green? Can you weld right there?"

Jack squinted, seeing where he was talking about, leaning the utensil in while Nicky moved his hand away slowly so as to not disturb the wire placement. With his finger he fired up the small wand, the end heating to a hot red.

"Scoot," he ordered, reaching the tool to the spot, meeting the tip with the welding wire. There was a pop and hiss, the metal taking shape in front of their eyes, Jack stepping back when it looked secure.

"Will that do it?" he asked, Nicholas nodding.

"Yeah, there's one more before we can try it, but it should work," the boy agreed, frowning.

"Then why are you frowning?" Jack asked as he leaned into his face.

"I'm wondering if I shouldn't have separated the languages," he answered, still frowning, "if that could be potentially offensive to any children that may find a use for the blocks."

"Speak munchkin please, not Daniel," Jack requested, Nicky looking back up at him.

"We've made two sets, one for languages based in the Pegasus and another for languages based in the Milky Way," he explained as he pointed to two sets of blocks, "but if we were to encounter a civilization that has had interaction with the Vanirs, they may take offense that I've included Asgard as a language of the Milky Way."

Jack just shook his head.

Daniel junior, the second explanation wasn't any simpler than the first, not that Jack didn't know what was being said but he was just trying to get the kid to talk like a kid. He should have known better.

"I think that anyone would be impressed something like this exists anyway," Jack responded, reminding himself that this was being a kid for Nicholas Jackson, "regardless of how it might be categorized."

Nicholas smiled. Jack really loved him; he was a great little boy.

"Ok, after we weld the second wire this should be finished!" he happily declared, standing to race back over to the desk. With Daniel forced back into his own office he had given his son the space he claimed next door to Adrienne's lab, space the child was happily using. It meant not having to hang out in the O'Neill's quarters all day and gave him something to do as well.

Win, win in his opinion, they just needed a TV In here and they were all set.

"Uncle Jack?"

"Yo!"

"Do you think Dad will let me present this, formally, like in a briefing?"

And then sometimes the kid broke his heart. Poor little guy trapped between being a child and adult with, of all people, damn Daniel Jackson as his father. That was something hard enough to feel you needed to live up to and Dr. Perky hadn't done to poorly for herself either, in fact, she probably would have been in upper leadership here as well even if Daniel hadn't knocked her up.

Smiling, and trying to do so in the least condescending manner possible, Jack took a chair beside where the boy was working, leaning to look him in the eye.

"You know what, yeah. I think he will. And if not, I'll knock some sense into him. I've gotten lots of practice with that over the years."

"Thanks Uncle Jack," Nicky whispered, his attention already back at the toy.

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Eli shook Daniel's head, making Adrienne giggle as the mannerisms were so different even though it was her husband's body.

"I keep wanting to call ya Indy," she couldn't help but say as Eli shrugged, that much very Daniel-like.

"I think it's funny you call him that anyway. I mean, he seemed ok enough in the training videos, but in person, well, he never struck me as the..." he trailed, Adrienne nodding.

"Playful type? He is, he was just going through a rough patch when you met him and he feels responsible for you guys; he's all business when it comes to your ship. I originally did it just to piss him off at first and it stuck," she said with a smile watching Daniel's mouth move into a strange grin, a grin that was still handsome because of the body it was using, "alright, I'm gonna fire this thing up, so you have to promise not to laugh," she said quickly, trying not to think about Daniel.

"That bad?"

Adrienne bit her lip, her pale cheeks flushing.

"What you are about to see will revoke all of the coolness you've witnessed," she declared, starting up the program and stepping back.

"You're cool?" Eli asked, Adrienne laughing and shaking her head, a middle finger flipped in his direction. She was glad that she had gotten to know more than the file on Eli Wallace with their weekly Destiny check-ins; he was a pretty neat guy.

"And NOW you sound like Indy too," and I thought we'd be working together this week but no, so now I have to stand here and wish you were my husband so I can steal a kiss dammit Indy switch back just a few minutes before your admin meeting with John since this entire Todd mess meant we didn't get dinner for my birthday, please, just a few minutes... "Just watch." She made a few quick keystrokes on the console and the image flickered to life, the holographic android wearing the trademark Atlantis wool uniform instead of Enterprise yellow, standing and awaiting instructions.

"Greetings. I am Data, the Digital Ancient Technological Archive."

"Oh wow," Eli muttered as his eyes widened in disbelief at the display before him.

"Thanks," the Cajun was beaming, "it's based on the original system that Rodney created when he was blasted back in time, the one that Morgan La Fey used..."

"No, I mean wow this is nerdy," he corrected timidly, looking much like Daniel years ago before he knew her better.

Must have been the glare.

Oops, she thought, watching him fumble nervously with the screen as she glanced away.

"What's the problem?" he asked instead, gazing forward.

"It's the "error" message," she started, trying to be friendly, hoping Eli really didn't think she was upset at his joke, if anything it made her miss Daniel more, "Data Is fully functional except for the components that we're adding. If I let him run on Atlantis information alone he works just fine, but the minute I start adding any of our information in, I get this..." she said reaching in front of him. The face of the hologram shot up, staring right at her coldly.

"CRUVUS."

"That doesn't mean error," Eli noted quickly, Adrienne waving her hands in correction.

"I know what it means Eli, but it's in none of Daniel's journals, or anything here; there just isn't a lot of technological jargon. It's as if they didn't make any at all, no special terminology like we do. The best I can figure is that it's seeing the information as some sort of a computer virus hence 'cruvus' but since you've been dealing with a much older version I was hoping you might see a connection, something we've missed."

Frowning, ugh, stop, Eli needed to use a different body, he leaned over, Adrienne passing him a flash drive containing much more than her demonstrative piece.

"This is what it won't let me upload. Sam's tried, I even let Rodney look at it and he couldn't fix it but made sure to tell me I was an idiot in the process."

"How could I forget Rodney McKay, your own personal Nicholas Rush?" he quipped, friendly again, much to Adrienne's relief.

"Pretty much," she replied with a smile as Eli switched out the drives, completing the log in process much as she did, that same message appearing on the screens as Data began to repeat that blasted word.

"See?" Adrienne grumbled, pointing a remote at Data to mute his complaints.

"That's annoying..." Eli agreed.

"Welcome to my world."

"Do I have time," he continued, eyeing the clock from his seat, "to sit here and keep playing with it?"

"I think so. Daniel wanted to meet with Cam and check on Chloe and if Rush or Young wanted to speak with him I guess that could take a while. But if we're gonna try and hack this out, I'm gonna get us some coffee," she replied, rubbing her temples as she headed for the lab door, her own machine back in their quarters.

"Dr. Jackson?" Eli asked from behind, the archaeologist stopping at the door frame.

"Adrienne," she corrected with a smile.

"Right, sorry," he answered, back to nervous making her wonder what she had done this time to make him so nervous, "Would you mind getting me something to eat too?"

"Indy's body, I forget. He would have eaten enough for three people by now," Adrienne joked pausing, noting Daniel whining about gaining weight lately and their discussions on her wanting him to stay alive for once, "carrots ok?"

"Yeah," Eli replied, never one to turn down fresh food he thought he'd never miss, "that's perfect."

Ha, Adrienne thought, skipping out of the lab on the way to the commissary, maybe we can use Daniel for switches more often; that way he won't die of a heart attack before he reaches fifty.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"What's so funny?" he heard a voice over his shoulder making him peer back to see that Dr. Carolyn Lam was standing in the communication room behind him awaiting his return. For a fleeting moment he thought that she was coming to see him, just him, but she didn't like to acknowledge their relationship at work, especially now that he was the desk jockey that he was.

She must need something.

"Just messing with Jackson, gotta get it in when I can," he said with a smile as he leaned back in the chair, reaching for a hand that was quickly pulling itself away.

"What now?" she softened a bit, genuinely curious, Cam sitting forward in the chair resting his elbows on his knees.

"Vala got married."

"Vala? Married?" the look on her face was well worth the mention.

"Yeah, she and Dex," he confirmed with a nod, "Yesterday. Apparently they want to take in a refugee girl and raise her."

Again, she looked completely shocked but looser, like she thought it was alright to have a real conversation at work.

This was progress.

"Wow," she murmured, shaking her head, "wonders never cease, so why is Daniel upset? They've been together a while."

"Oh he isn't, we were just joking about name changes and I like to poke at him about Addy," Cam said, reaching for the stone to pack it away, cleaning up the small desk area.

"What about Addy?"

"Oh Carolyn you know," he chuckled over his shoulder, "Remember when Addy got blasted into some alternate timeline, she came back talking about not being pregnant, she must've made you do five ultrasounds. I thought I told you but in that timeline, she and I were..." he trailed, watching the confusion on her face. Clearly she would have remembered the medical case, but Adrienne called the poor woman Dr. Grumpypants, there was no way that she told her...

"Were what?"

_Nice move Mitchell, no gettin' outta this now..._

"Together."

And Carolyn Lam's jaw dropped.

_Shit, time for damage control._

"It messes with Daniel, gets him all worked up. He calls me her boyfriend and she likes to poke at him about it too. He's fun to mess with, that's all; the man's too high strung."

Not working...

"Did you and Addy ever?" she asked, Cam unable ascertain if she was curious or genuinely concerned.

"Ever what?"

_Wait, oh no she thinks..._

"Anything..."

"God NO Carolyn!" he shouted out, glad the Cajun in question was not here to sock him in the face, "I love her like a sister, but I'd kill her if I had to live with the woman, she's WORSE than Daniel," he defended quickly, Carolyn's expression souring further.

_Mitchell, you can have fun with this too..._

"Are you jealous?" he teased, stepping forward.

"No," the doctor spat quickly, "she's a pain in the ass. You can have her!"

He didn't care about her silly rules, she was jealous, and she just had the cutest look on her face right now. Taking a quick step forward before she could stop him, Cam grabbed Carolyn's wrists, pulling her to him and kissing her right in the communication room.

She didn't fight back.

Win.

"General," she finally pulled away after the longest kiss she had ever allowed him to steal, taking a step back, "I'm here on official business."

"Then why are you asking me about Addy?" he joked watching her face draw into a scowl.

"The Langarans want me to come there, for at least a week, make sure the capital in the hospital is set up with the new updates," and it was back to business, a tablet being passed to him quickly.

Oh well, he thought, it was good while it lasted.

"How's security over there?" he asked carefully, hoping she understood that he would ask that of any staff member, he just had more of a vested interest in this particular member of his staff.

"Good, and the Jaffa have agreed to help," her answered was prepared but she paused, peeking up a him slyly, "you're worried."

"I finally have something to worry about."

A blush spread across her olive cheeks. She didn't answer him, walking away, the general following when she suddenly stopped right in front of him, gazing into his eyes.

"I'm glad I decided not to care anymore," she whispered quickly before dashing back to the infirmary.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Dr. Jackson," Nicholas Rush greeted, Daniel noting that he seemed concerned, "thank you for coming down. I know that computer systems are not your area of expertise, but I felt you needed to see this."

"Sure, what's going on?" Daniel responded, not trusting a word he was saying. Most of the information concerning the Destiny Daniel was getting from Colonel Young and Eli, not from Rush himself, who preferred to keep any changes in the ship's operation, now that it was properly charged, a secret.

"It appears that we're going faster," the scientist said as he motioned Daniel to his side, "when we awoke I told General O'Neill at our current speed we were approximately four billion light years away, making our return to Earth alive an impossibility."

That Daniel knew, as depressing as it was, the ship pointed in his direction in case that were to ever change, but the likelihood of him ever setting foot on the ship to explore was slim to none.

"Right..." he hoped his tone didn't convey attitude, but Daniel really wanted to check on Chloe and TJ according to what Young was telling him before their time for the switch ended.

"First, at this rate we will still never make it to earth in our lifetimes, but the speed didn't just increase. It is increasing exponentially. Yesterday, we were traveling at a three percent increase from when we woke up, and today," he cued up something more on the screen, motioning Daniel to his side, "we're at five."

"I don't think I'm understanding, wasn't that what we'd hoped would happen, with the recharge, that we'd have enough power to travel faster and maybe even risk gating here..." Daniel was confused. Out of everything he had from the Destiny reports, this was probably the best news so far.

"Daniel, now that the ship is increasing in speed, I'm not sure if we can make it stop," Rush countered, again kinder than normal, even slight fear in his eyes.

"But you did to resupply a few weeks ago, didn't you?"

"The ship stopped itself, we didn't."

And then the truth came out, Young, Eli, a truth that no one had mentioned.

"What do you mean the ship stopped itself?"

Rush sighed out, appearing to finally realize that keeping this information to himself was useless.

"Eli and I have discovered that with the ship restored to full power it seems to be able to anticipate our needs. At first it was small adjustments, life support to maintain our current crew and no more, maintaining a certain temperature where we're keeping the bodies of the dead, but the very morning Young and I were discussing that we needed supplies again the read-out started showing a nearby planet with everything we needed..."

Daniel couldn't explain it but chills coursed down his spine. There was a limit to what technology should be able to do; in fact, it was something that he and Adrienne often argued about. She firmly believed that technology was there to serve humans but Daniel wasn't as sure. His experience lay in years of dealing with the Goa'uld, the Replicators, the Ori, the Asgard, the Ancients while his wife's was a fraction of that with a dash of Science Fiction television and movies.

"Your reaction seems to be the same as mine. That, however, isn't the only thing I'm worried about," Rush added, stepping sideways to another screen, the image of a sun flashing to life.

"This is a solar storm, about five hundred light years away," he said, pausing for Daniel to take it in.

"Which at current speeds?" Daniel asked, knowing where this was going.

"At current speeds, we will reach in six months. Current speeds," he emphasized, Daniel nodding in understanding.

That was too fast, dangerously fast.

What was going on?

"I'll have someone at the stones around the clock, not just at the normal check-in times," the Atlantis commander said quickly, Rush nodding in agreement.

"Carson asked me to check in on TJ, and Chloe, before I have to switch back," Daniel added, Rush silently killing the image on the view screen. Another worry added to his list, Daniel slipped out of the main control room, heading for the infirmary.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Jack closed the last side of the small box, welding the corners carefully in place.

"Can you show me how to do it myself?" Nicholas asked the question that Jack had been waiting for him to ask, the answer already prepared.

"No."

"It's no more dangerous than flying a jumper and you let me do that all of the time," it seemed the boy had his argument ready as well, Jack frowning.

"I thought your mom said something about no back talk," Jack ventured instead, Nicholas blushing.

"Sorry Uncle Jack," he whispering, his caretaker instantly feeling awful. The boy was very respectful, at all times; he was just teasing him.

"I've been flying most of my life, I feel a lot more confident with that then welding. Let Cam show you welding, if he comes to visit, he's more mechanical than I am."

There was that little smile again.

Dammit, why was the kid so good and so cute because he was just about ready to give in when he saw movement at the open door, glancing up and fully expecting Adrienne to be there to visit but instead it was that Satedan girl, dressed in Earth-like jeans and a t-shirt.

"We have company," Jack announced, eyeing the girl carefully. She was a strange one, all talk one minute, the next not saying a word. It appeared now was 'not say a word' mode. Regardless, Nicholas, much like his mother and to an extent his father, smiled that friendly smile beckoning her inside.

"Saurza, wanna come see what we've been working on?" he offered brightly, Jack awaiting the child's response. He worried about Nicky in that regard, how the other children would take to him. Torrin seemed very kind, like his mother, but as Nicholas was growing and developing faster Torrin seemed unable to keep up. Saurza was slightly older, seven Carson guessed despite her small stature, but she was more streetwise.

Jack wasn't sure how that would go just yet.

"Sure," she replied, lacking emotion, walking over to join them.

"They're blocks," Nicholas was explaining already, that look on his face clearly his father's, "two sets, but each set teaches the basic alphabets, letters and sounds, of up to five alphabets. This first completed set has Ancient, Athosian, Satedan, and the Wraith changes so far. Dad suggested I include the Vanirs, but since all we have of them is exactly like Asgard, I decided to keep it just Asgard on the other set."

Oh yeah, Jack thought watching the girl, he's lost her.

"What's on the other set?"

Or not...

"The other set consists of non-Pegasus races, ones from my home galaxy, English, Asgard, Aetlan, Langaran, Galaran and Ktaenam."

"You think these will help?"

Jack had planned on slipping out to get a soda or a snack or something but he was just too intrigued by the pint size nerd conversation going on in front of him to leave just yet. Instead he stepped aside, pulling out a chair at an empty table, taking a seat as silently as he could.

"Basic letters I think would. Dad keeps saying that he wants this to be more than just a research station that he wants it to be a place for families and there isn't a school just yet," the boy responded as Saurza picked up the block, examining it closely. She didn't say anything for a moment, but her face was screwed in concentration, a seriousness in her expression.

"But what about after letters and sounds and stuff what then?" she finally asked, a good question no less.

"These are just supplemental," Jack had to hold in a chuckle at the boy's choice of words, "My mom's working on a program, wanna see?"

Seemingly excited the girl nodded, Nicky standing and racing to the central console where Jack knew that Dr. Perky's little Star Trek insanity was sure to play. There was the shimmer, one Jack had seen that station use years ago, the image of an Ancient replaced with a green skinned Brent Spiner in an Atlantis uniform.

He had to give it to Addy; it took balls to put that thing in here.

"My name is Data, the Digital Ancient Technological Archive, fully functional and ready to assist you."

"No, you're not," Nicholas said, his young voice almost sounding like Daniel for a moment, "Mom cusses at you every day."

"Your mom swears?" Suarza looked confused, "she seems, pretty..."

"No, that's my Dad, usually, he's either really calm or goes bonkers," and Jack was laughing silently into his hand, "Mom just does it in Cajun, only a few people speak it, so no one knows what she's saying."

"Is it a hard language?"

"Dad says it's not a language at all," Nicholas replied, "he's says it the lack of a proper language."

Saurza laughed, as did Jack, because he was pretty sure Daniel's description of Adrienne's slang was nowhere near as polite as his son's translation.

"Data can you show me the Milky Way," the boy redirected, Data waving his hands in front of his face, nice touch Addy, his home galaxy appearing on the ceiling of the lab as the lights dimmed.

"That's where you're from?" Saurza was equally as intrigued, her dark eyes taking in the sight in front of her.

"Yep."

"All of that?"

"No," the boy corrected, "Data show me Earth, sorry Terra."

"Of course," the hologram replied, the image flying forward, a little too fast Jack's stomach was thinking, settling on an image of Earth in orbit, hanging loosely in space.

"That's where I am from," Nicholas announced proudly as Saurza reached out to touch a blue green ball that wasn't there.

"Wow..."

"Yeah, I never got to see much of it before we came here," Nicky replied, sitting back on his stool equally as mesmerized.

"Will you go back?" she asked, a question Jack was curious to hear the boy's answer to as well.

"Someday," his reply was instant, he had thought of this, and Jack was fairly certain that he missed Adrienne's aunt, hell everyone missed that woman, she could cook, "Dad has Rodney working on the gate bridge so that'll get us there faster than the supply transports."

"What's that?" and again with the questions. The girl was very inquisitive, he had to give her that much.

"A bunch of gates in a row to travel faster," and Nicky's explanation was simple without making her look stupid, he'd have to commend him for that later, "Now it takes three weeks to get home, with the bridge it would take about three minutes."

"That's so cool," she replied and she meant it, her eyes back on the images of the Milky Way. Nicholas was quiet for a while, not answering, his attention back at the block, a block that activated just like he and the boy had hoped. The child played for a moment with the gadget, seeming to ignore his visitor when suddenly he looked over at Jack, frowning before directing his attention to the girl.

"Have you decided?" he asked, setting the toy back onto the table.

"About what?" she answered quickly not for a moment thinking that Nicholas was talking to Jack. She must have known what he was going to ask.

"Vala and Ronon?"

"No..." she whispered, taking her eyes from the ceiling to look at the floor. Jack almost intervened, his eyes working over to Nicky who was looking at him, a look on his young face that said he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Well, you don't have to listen to me," he continued, setting the block aside completely so she knew that she had his full attention, "but they're great. Really great. And I know; they're my Godparents."

That was true too, Daniel telling Jack he only didn't ask him because after the stroke he didn't want Jack to feel responsible were anything to happen to Daniel, which, knowing Daniel, was a good possibility. He also knew it was because they were younger than he and Sam, well him at least, and that he understood as well.

"What's that?"

"If anything happens to my mom and dad, I go live with Ronon and Vala," the boy explained simply.

"Not Jack?" Saurza asked as though she had forgotten Jack was in the room, an embarrassed looked on her face as she realized that he was.

"No, but Dad says that's only because Uncle Jack didn't wanna come to Atlantis and he and mom felt that my Godparents should be here. But, yeah, I think it's kinda Uncle Jack too," Nicholas replied, Jack touched but keeping quiet, sipping his soda and listening. The girl walked over to the table where Nicholas was seated, pulling out a chair and sitting down, thinking silently for a while.

"So you'd be like my brother?" she suddenly said, looking up at him.

"Kinda, yeah, and Torrin too."

"How?" now she was confused as was Jack, who leaned forward just a bit in his chair.

"Because since Torrin's mom is carrying my little brother or sister then he's kinda my brother which means he would kinda be yours too," the logic shocked Jack for a moment. Nicholas Jackson, the child genius, the miracle child of a descended, the child who blueprinted, mapped and created these amazing toys that were scattered on the lab tables in front of him, this child knew better.

Or did he?

"I've never had a brother," Saurza said much to Nicholas' apparent pleasure.

"So far Torrin's pretty cool, verdict's still out on the new baby."

Jack had to laugh at his comment, especially since he knew full well that Nicholas was very excited for his future sibling. He was about to interject, give the boy a hard time for his comment when Saurza stood, pushing the chair back under.

"Where are you going? Didn't you want to try the blocks?" Nicky asked, the girl dashing out, stopping only to peek back as she shouted.

"I need to find Vala. See you later Nicky!"

And she was gone, the small child looking disappointed that she didn't want to play with his invention.

So much like his dad.

"Ready to fire these things up munchkin?" Jack asked instead, standing and walking to Nicky's side.

"Yeah, let's see if they work," he replied, looking over at the hologram, "Data you can power down," and the image disappeared, the lights in the room raising once more.

"Nicholas," Jack said as he sat, pushing the blocks away for a moment, "that was a really great thing you did there. Talking to her like that."

"Dad says Atlantis isn't just an expedition, that it's a family. Everyone needs a family," the boy replied quietly.

"Yeah little guy," Jack answered, "They sure do."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Addy, I think this might do it, but I'm not..." Eli/Daniel trailed, Adrienne leaning over to see what he was entering.

"Eli?"

"No," Daniel replied, "it's me, I needed to get back ja-wer, I'm sorry."

"That's ok," she whispered, reaching for his arm to push him aside and look at the screen, "in fact stay there just a moment." Daniel frowned.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, Adrienne holding up a finger to halt him, gazing down at the screen.

"Data?" she asked into the air, the hologram coming to life, "can you please list the first dynasty of the Asgard rulers, in the original language."

"Heimskringla, Odin..."

Daniel wasn't even sure if the rest of it was correct because the next thing he knew Adrienne was on him, kissing him in glee, pushing him back onto the table.

"I take it it worked?" he asked from under her lips as she backed up, a beautiful smile across her face.

"It worked, but he didn't do anything that I hadn't already, I checked because I was gonna pick da 'ell outta his brain," she said with a frown, holding onto his hand, "but it's jus workin'..."

"Well, let me get some things done and I can schedule another switch with Eli, let you two look at it," Daniel answered, pulling her to him to wrap his arms around her.

"What brought that on?" she said, giggling as she threw her arms up on his shoulders.

"I like beaming back from a stressful meeting to my wife throwing her arms around me and kissing me. Is that a crime?"

"Never," she replied, letting them slip into another slow kiss, exploring his mouth as he ran his hands all over her back, holding her close and intimately to his body.

"That bad?" she asked as they broke away, Daniel shaking his head.

"Check in with home is fine, but the Destiny is speeding up."

"I take it that's not good..." she ventured, reaching for him as he tried to flee.

"No, they're headed right for a solar flare phenomenon and, well," Daniel looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone, "there are some other things too, but I'd rather talk to you about them later, without the chance of anyone else hearing."

Adrienne nodded, peeking at the clock to see when they might be able to escape to their quarters.

"Lunch?"

"After, when Nicky and Jack leave," he whispered in reply.

"You know, we said that we were gonna stop talking shop in bed," she teased as he rolled his eyes, heading for the door.

"Sad thing is that everyone thinks we are having cute day time rendezvous when we really ARE talking shop," he noted from the other side of the lab, Adrienne laughing.

"I'll wear a negligee; maybe that can make up for it?" she said with a wink, watching him disappear around the corner chuckling, shaking his head as he left.

"I love that cooyon," she giggled, firing up her new best friend.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Vala sat in the main chair in Ronon's office, eyeing the screen as he asked.

"The Wraith won't go down," he explained, "a zat's nothing, they can deep sea dive."

"So are the shields enough?"

"Against weapons blast, yeah, but the Ancients weren't perfect," he answered, cueing up the shield, "they were arrogant. They're holes in the shield."

Vala leaned forward examining the heat signatures noting the differences in color. Yeah, they were arrogant; she could see why Daniel got along with them so well...

"So what's the plan?" she asked, noting his concern as he leaned back against the console, his face in thought. Ronon Dex wasn't a big talker but he was a thinker, a strategist, always seeking out a better solution. She had been pleased when Daniel gave him the position, not only because it got her out of the dreariness of the city, even Vala had grown sick of shopping, but because the Satedan deserved it.

"John's suggested having Todd to help," he finally answered, not pleased clearly, standing to grab his communicator from where he'd tossed it aside.

"How?"

"Have him break in, see where he gets through," he replied but Vala couldn't help but laugh.

"Dex, you know as well as I do that Daniel isn't gonna let that happen. For one, he doesn't want Todd walking around the base like one of us, especially around Nicky and two, why in the hell would he agree to allowing a Wraith to gain intimate knowledge of the city's weaknesses?"

Ronon nodded, in agreement, not just with Vala but with Daniel.

"You sound like an intelligence officer," he teased, hoping she was right she could tell.

"That's my job isn't it?"

"I'm gonna talk to Addy, see if she can do it instead," he added quickly, Vala's face turning into a frown. She knew where he was going with this and she didn't like it. That was getting to be the way to get through to Daniel, Adrienne. If he was being unreasonable about something just convince Addy and she'll take care of it in the bedroom. It was rumor of course, she hadn't heard of anything like that actually happening, but she knew both of them, very well, and hoped it was just that, rumor.

"Ronon..."

"She's running the computer systems with Sam & Rodney working on the bridge..."

"And she's sleeping with him..."

"No, if John wants Todd, she seems to be able to deal with him," he concluded, rightfully. It would be Addy, poor Addy, juggling her department, leaving with the teams in a few days and running the computer systems. She wondered if the woman slept at all.

"Call her down then," Vala replied, reaching for her ear, Ronon shaking his head.

"Check her schedule," he cued up some information on the screen, "she's with Eli Wallace until Daniel's done with command."

"You know her schedule?" Vala teased, Ronon rolling his eyes.

"I know everyone's schedule," he answered simply, strongly, making Vala peer over at the screen, looking to see if her husband was due to meet with anyone himself or if they were alone.

"Vala?"

A voice asked from the door, Vala turning to see Saurza standing in the doorway. She was dressed as she was when she left them at breakfast, bidding her temporary guardians farewell as she explored the city. Ronon had kept tabs on her all day through his staff to find that she spent a good portion of the morning on a protected balcony staring out across the ocean and the rest of the morning with Nicholas Jackson down in Daniel's auxiliary lab.

"Good day so far?" she asked, standing, letting Ronon take his seat and send a message, presumably to Adrienne.

"Yeah, just kinda hanging out," she answered, walking right on in and taking a seat in the chair in the corner, but not before she pulled it out into the middle of the room.

"How'd ya find me? Your com's off?" Vala now inquired, tapping her ear. She'd tried to check on Saurza a few times, well more than a few, Ronon persuading her to back off and to let the girl have some space. He'd considered talking to Daniel about it, maybe get him to have a word with Vala about being a kid without parents, but he wasn't sure about broaching that subject.

"The Data system. Dr. Jackson got it working I guess," the girl said with a shrug.

"Don't let Addy hear you call her Dr. Jackson," Ronon said over his shoulder, "it drives her crazy."

"Why? Doesn't that make her special? The doctor part?" Saurza was confused, Vala smiling.

"Not where she's from, where she's from it just made her different. Trust me, call her Addy," Vala explained, Saurza nodding.

"I've thought about it," the child dove right in, Ronon stopping his typing to peer over, "and with that crazy black eyed man, Wraith everywhere and anyone my dad made angry, I need a place to stay. A safe place."

"You're here," Ronon said quickly, "no one's gonna get you here."

"I know, but, well, I'm just here, like a refugee, so I've thought about it," she continued so diplomatically, so mature, Vala trying not to smile, "and I want to try. I don't know if I can call you Mom or Dad but I want to try. I won't just stay in your quarters, I'll behave and do my part to, even if that means drawing cute pictures to hang on your walls and stuff. But as a trail, I mean, if we don't get along I want to try to find a different place to stay."

"Of course," Vala said, holding back her grin.

"So, I guess tell the other Dr. Jackson to do whatever he needs to do," she continued, "and I'll go talk to him if I have to."

"I'll drop by his office this afternoon," Vala replied calmly, Ronon grinning from his seat as Saurza sat there, as though she had something else to say.

"You ok kid?" he asked as she frowned, her dark eyes darting between he and Vala.

"Can we get some lunch?" she finally choked out, "I'm starving."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"So what of the news from the front?" John was waiting in Daniel's office when he arrived, seeming to be escaping from the chaos of the city himself.

And yet he comes to my office, Daniel thought, the place I try to avoid like the plague.

"Cam isn't too happy about Ford, as is to be expected, and he's got to meet with Telford. He did mention the chance of sending a small fighter fleet here, maybe call Teal'c and the Jaffa if they are in any shape to help out, but nothing that I didn't expect," the commander answered, taking a seat on the white sofa resisting the temptation to lie down.

He should have stayed down longer with Adrienne; she made everything better.

"And the Destiny?"

Daniel paused. Rush had been able to give very little information in terms of the ship's speed and the "need" anticipation but Daniel wanted to talk to his wife, see if she had any insight on the matter considering what she had been doing with the Atlantis computer system.

"No change with Chloe, but I want Jenn to head over there. TJ seems to be a little worse for the wear," he answered quickly, decision made, wanting to investigate the other problem a little further before alerting anyone else.

"The Ancient Database doesn't even have ALS listed as an illness, what's Jenn supposed to do?" the colonel asked, Daniel having considering this himself as TJ gave him her own diagnosis as well as Chloe's.

"Get creative," he replied, standing to head over to his desk and get back to paperwork, "There's got to be a staff member with it or someone in their family, someone to provide us a baseline for Jenn to work with. I hate to ask for a human guinea pig but with the station at full power I think we should make use of the medical bay and Jennifer's research capabilities."

"Agreed," John nodded his head quickly, "I'll start asking around staff, maybe get Carson to pull medicals histories, start looking for the gene."

"Thanks, miss anything good around here?"

"Not a thing," John answered happily, "I don't mind the office when it's quiet."

"And the Wraith?" Daniel asked before he could temper his tone, still not liking the current situation.

"You mean Todd?" John corrected cautiously, Daniel nodding. The creature said he wanted to be referred to as Todd, offering no other explanation than to be called just that, Todd.

"Not sure if I'm ever gonna get used to that," Daniel admitted as John breathed in slowly.

"He wants to talk to Addy," the colonel said before he could change his mind, Daniel not even looking up from his computer screen.

"No."

"Daniel..."

"I said no."

John stood this time, walking over to the desk, resting his hands on the surface.

"Look, I understand Daniel, I do, but hear me out. He didn't mean to hurt her. Even in his condition, he could have killed her, but he didn't, he just knocked her out and set her outside of the ship. He could have taken her hostage, but he didn't..."

"Why does he want to speak with her?" Daniel asked, calmly.

"He wants to apologize, and tell her he meant her no harm."

Daniel shook his head, "To garner favor with me."

"No," John argued, "Daniel, he's lost. His time on Earth was his second imprisonment and with Ford sending the Wraith into chaos, he has nothing. Wraith are a hive species Daniel, a collective, and he has no one. Even you can appreciate that."

Daniel tried not to look like he was listening to the argument, but he was. It seemed that was his entire city, refugees and lost people, people that no one wanted...

"Daniel, it was a long time ago, but it won't happen again. We won't let anyone take Addy away."

"Fine," Daniel answered quickly, not wanting to think about any parts of his past and just read Rodney and Sam's report on the bridge repairs, "just clear it with her first. Don't show up at her lab with Todd on tow."

"Hadn't planned on it," the colonel assured him, leaving the office before his commander could change his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Mom's not here," Nicholas greeted as Daniel slipped into the lab surprised to see his son here and his wife absent.

"Data's working, like really working, so she went down to help Aunt Sam with some of the Ancient Database stuff to find some gates," he added, his father in deep thought he could tell.

"Uncle Jack is at the infirmary, he was due a check up, but I'm not getting into any trouble Dad I promise," Nicholas kept talking, Daniel laughing and taking a seat.

"That's not what I'm worried about little guy," he said, seeing he had a few minutes before the briefing to see his son.

"It's Todd isn't it?" the boy asked, Daniel frowning at the question.

"He came by, right after I got here, said he wanted to tell Mom he didn't mean to hurt her and he had no intention of harming anyone on Atlantis. He said he just needed to figure out what was going on," Nicholas explained as his father rubbed his face, reaching to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"And your mother said..."

"She understood and it was a good thing he did bringing Saurza..."

_Why did I have to marry the one person that is so much like me in so many ways; damn trusting Adrienne..._

"Oh, and speaking of Saurza, she wants Vala to be her mom, just in case they haven't made it to your office yet. I know you were meeting with the Destiny and were busy, but I wanted to mention it," the boy added with a smile.

"I know, she came down, I've started the paperwork to send on the next supply ship," he answered, Nicholas beaming.

"I told her welcome to the family. She seems tough, but she liked the idea of having a brother," he continued much to his father's confusion.

"A brother?"

"Yeah, if Vala and Ronon are my godparents, then she is my godsister right?"

It choked Daniel up for a moment, that idea that his child had just taken in this stranger, making her instantly a part of his family.

The way it should be.

He was so proud of his son he could feel himself beaming.

"Exactly right Nicky, you're exactly right," Daniel answered noting the boy was still adjusting in his seat, nervously, "did you and Jack finish your project?" And in that instant the nerves were gone, Nicholas smiling Adrienne's beautiful smile again.

"Yeah, I hope you like it but I think it'll be AWESOME once the new baby is born..."

Daniel smiled himself, taking his communicator from his ear to give his child his full attention.

If anything happened, John could handle it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

John sat at the head of the table, tablet computer in hand nodding to himself before speaking.

"Ok, as we discussed at our last briefing, command wants gate bridge construction to be our top priority after keeping an eye on the Ford situation. That being said, we gonna be heading out through the gate again with three objectives this time, finding gates that we can use to replace broken ones, check to see if the status of any people we meet and their relationship to Ford, all the while continuing to explore and fulfill the mission of the expedition," he started, senior staff all seeming to be in agreement.

"Daniel and I have spent most of our time the past two days when we were not in meetings forming the teams, the most important being my team, which I would like to keep as close as we can to what we had before..."

"Minus myself as I CANNOT be spared if you and the SGC want this gate bridge built," Rodney spoke up quickly, John rolling his eyes.

"We were aware Rodney, thank you," he shot quickly, continuing, "therefore, my team will consist of myself, Teyla until she's too far along, Ronon or Vala, I will take whichever one is available given various security concerns, Dr. O'Neill and Dr. Jackson. Five allows for us to not have to replace Teyla when she is in the latter stages of pregnancy, Addy when she is on her maternity leave with Teyla or worry if Ronon can't join us."

"Which I can't," the Satedan spoke quickly, "not tomorrow's. Running tests here."

"Did you need me?" Adrienne asked, Daniel trying to control his words and facial expressions. He knew what for, when Adrienne had returned to her lab they had a nice husband/wife discussion the moment Nicholas had slipped headphones over his ears. John wanted to use Todd to check for ways that Wraith could get in and had talked to Adrienne about this first given she was working on the computers and since Todd had decided to make amends for slugging his wife in the face, Adrienne seemed to think this was a GRAND idea. Somehow, to top it off, she'd convinced Ronon that this was acceptable.

His wife really should have considered lobbying as a career.

"No, just after, to go over whatever he could get through," he answered, Adrienne nodding.

"So, tomorrow 0900 we leave for M7R-090, a planet that by first MALP readings seems to be uninhabited...Addy?"

And his wife was up, doing what she did best, slide after slide of forest-like terrain on the screen. Daniel had read her memo on the planet already, splitting his attention between the rest of the agenda as Adrienne went on about planet temperature, a nice seventy degrees Fahrenheit, twenty one degrees Celsius, and a little more about the flora and fauna. In fact he was only continuing to listen to see if she made a joke about Endor; the woman was obsessed with Star Wars.

Miraculously she didn't make one Star Wars joke, taking the entire matter very seriously before asking Sam to join her at the front, going over the next step in the DATA project, installing Data beyond the two Jackson laboratories. That made him peek up and listen again, Adrienne's excitement at reopening the academic area was unmistakable.

"Addy and I both look forward to reporting to each of you soon as we continue to implement the DATA system," Sam said in conclusion taking a seat. Scanning one last time at his list, that was all he had, Daniel peered over at John who was looking the same.

Excellent, Daniel thought, done just in time to have a normal evening with my family.

"Thanks to everyone for their reports and I look forward to seeing each of you off for our first expedition," Daniel declared, standing, heading straight for Adrienne.

"Daniel," Rodney spoke up from behind, clearing his throat, "I'd like to speak with you about how in the world command expects me to maintain the city's power levels, fix the gate bridge, monitor the computer systems and keep out the Wraith with half of the staff I had before..."

_Last I checked my wife and Ronon were taking care of the last two, but whatever..._

"Rodney, I'll meet you in my office," he replied, catching a laugh from Adrienne. Yeah yeah Addy, he thought, I only refer to it as my office when I want to rub it in his face, laugh it up.

With a wink of her eye she was gone, Daniel trailing the still ranting scientist.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"I'm giving John the city," Daniel whined, crawling into the bed straight for his wife. Between the Destiny issues, Todd and Adrienne's newfound friendship, or truce, whatever, and Rodney's tantrum at the end of the staff meeting he was at the edge, at least for today.

"It's not that bad," she scolded as he made it to her, burying his face into her lap.

"Yes it is," he mumbled.

"You're a big baby," she teased, setting her book on the nightstand so she could run her fingers through his hair.

"Am not."

"Are too, and the fact that a grown man is saying am not pretty much proves my point," she teased, leaning to kiss his head, "It wasn't that bad of a day."

"Not, not a bad day, just a bad month, bad choice, can we go back to Earth..." he was still whining, this time rolling over to face her.

"No, because you'd never be able to live with yourself," she frowned, Daniel reaching for her waist.

"I know, but it makes me feel better to whine to you."

She laughed, he did whine to her, a lot, and it seemed that he had for a very long time.

She loved it then and still did now.

"Take off your shirt," she ordered pushing him away, Daniel sitting up quickly, pushing his glasses up his face in confusion, glasses she hadn't noticed that he'd switched back to after Rodney had given him an awful headache.

"Really?"

"Don't get excited Indy," she corrected quickly eyeing the bottle of lotion on her nightstand, "I was just gonna rub your back."

"I know," he mumbled as he stood, "I'm just messing with you. You're an easy target."

"Nicholas get down to bed alright?" Adrienne asked as Daniel unzipped his uniform, tossing it aside and pulling his shirt from his back, throwing that into the hamper, setting his glasses on the nightstand before crawling back onto the bed.

"Yeah, he gets so excited about things, like you do. Those blocks of his are pretty amazing, have you gotten a chance to see them?" Adrienne pursed her lips, guilt washing across her face.

"No, I didn't, today was insane, I should go kiss him goodnight..."

"No, he sleeps like you, you'll never get him up. Let him rest. You can get him up for breakfast," he said as he jumped at the sensation of cool lotion hitting his back. He lay there, letting her rub and caress, feeling himself relaxing already, thoughts of friendly Wraith and Rodney's screaming disappearing. Closing his eyes, he let himself start to drift to sleep when he felt her reach under of his waist, unzipping his pants.

"I thought you said don't get excited," he muttered, Adrienne smacking him lightly.

"Take off your clothes tchew, I'm just rubbing and I wanna rub your legs."

"And I'm supposed to be naked, with my gorgeous wife and not be excited?" he replied smartly, standing to comply with her request, tossing his remaining clothing into the basket as well.

"Cooyon," she hissed, picking up where she left off once he was back on the bed, running her hands up and down his thighs and butt, but he just wasn't acting relaxed anymore, his muscles tense and tight under her hands.

"Ja-wer," he whined again, "this isn't relaxing, this is torture."

"What have I done to you?" she asked, leaning forward to peck his cheek.

"I've told you a million times, you created a monster."

Giggling, Adrienne stopping rubbing, instead running her lips down his neck, lingering where she knew it drove him wild.

"Roll over," she whispered softly, running her tongue lightly at his ear.

"Yes ma'am."

She didn't have to tell him twice...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX

_(Remember full version can be found in the M stories, same name, under full version) _

And then there were chills, the feeling over, Daniel completely out of breath, closing his eyes as his chest continued to move up and rapidly.

"You relaxed now?" he heard her ask, laughingly from beside him, Daniel still not opening his eyes.

"Just a bit..."

"No more wanting to quit your job?" she added, Daniel eyes shooting open, a sly smile across his face.

"But if I come home happy I won't get that..."

And a pillow hit him square in the nose, Adrienne laughing from the other side.

"Ya damn cooyon."

"I'm just kidding," he said, reaching out for her, "you didn't have to do that."

"Why do you say that every single time I do?" she was frowning, "It's why I don't more often..."

Smiling, hoping she really wasn't offended, Daniel clamped hand over his mouth playfully.

"You're so stupid. I'll be right back," and she stood, gliding like she did and Daniel lay back, thinking about the day. Todd was here to stay it seemed, whether Daniel liked it or not, and there was a part of him that just couldn't send him out into space, a part he himself couldn't explain. Vala was going to be a mother again, in less than a week she had the life again that she never knew she wanted until the Ori had ripped it away from her.

It was all so different now, his life, this place, and there was a sense of rightness to it that even he couldn't explain, a rightness that he needed to at least try to explain to the love of his life.

"Ad?" he called out as the bathroom light switched off, his wife slipping though the doorway in the dimness of their bedroom.

"Yeah sha."

"I want to tell you about my first placement, in foster care."

And he said it, opening up a box that he hadn't opened in years.

Adrienne stood there for a moment, stunned to hear him speak of it. He was still naked but she didn't say a word, it was as if he needed this, he needed to be vulnerable to her in every way.

"I'm listening," she said softly, joining him on the bed and scooting up beside him but not touching him, not laying a hand on him, just letting him speak at his own pace.

"My first foster parents, well, they were regulars in the system, kinda like a starter home. A lot of kids were placed with them but not for long, just so they were with someone until there was a better match made," he began, resting his hands on his legs but not looking at her, just looking at his fingers as he picked at them.

"That sounds like a good plan," she offered, staying put until he gave her a signal otherwise.

"And they were nice, don't get me wrong, they knew the system and what needed to happen to make it successful, to make sure a child didn't end up in a horror story situation," he added quickly, finally looking up at her, "but my foster father, Kevin was his name, he thought he was helping..."

He trailed but Adrienne didn't move, giving him the space he needed, trying to remain expressionless to let him say what he needed to say.

"He'd coach us, the newer kids, there were three when I was taken in, we had all come in about the same time. He'd tell us what we needed to know to get adopted," Daniel continued, back to picking his fingers and looking down.

"He used to tell me to tone it down a lot, when I'd get excited about something, you know how I get, how Nicholas gets. See, most of my parent's things went to Dr. Ballard," he continued, Adrienne noting that he didn't call the man his grandfather at all, "but I got to keep a few books and I'd read and study and get ideas...He'd tell me how to act and talk and not to be too bookish, not to act like I was an adult, that people didn't like a know it all, and it was advice, it wasn't malicious, but..." and he looked up at her again a sad expression on his face.

"But what sha?" she urged reaching out her hand and her hand alone, resting it gently on his knee.

"He was right," Daniel said, tear-filled eyes glancing downward, "no one wanted me. I wasn't friendly because my parents were great, but not very physical, so I wasn't and had no desire to learn after they died. I didn't just hug a stranger and adoptive parents wanted that feeling of saving a kid from, I dunno. And yeah, he was right, I was a know it all, not intentionally but, I just spoke before I thought. I wasn't very social, so any homes with children already thought I'd cause more harm than good, that I would... Anyway the other two moved on, one was adopted, the girl, Denise I think was her name, and the other boy stayed with us for a while longer until he went too. He didn't like me much, I was smaller, and not very good at sports..."

He paused, Adrienne scooting closer to him but still maintaining her distance, Daniel nodding before speaking again.

"I'm glad that Vala and Ronon want Saurza, attitude and all, regardless of what she's been through and the help she may need. They want her just for who she is, I see what you're talking about Ad, Vala loves that child because she is just herself. That's hard to find," he choked up again, looking away, "Kevin was right. No one wanted me..."

"I do," Adrienne couldn't stand it anymore, he needed her, he was in pain. Coming onto her knees and she reached out for him, leaning in to meet his gaze, "I want you."

"I know," he said, extending his own arms for her, his wife crawling into his lap, intertwining her body with his, "it was just hard to go for so long thinking no one did, or when they did they just wanted to use me for one thing or another..."

"Well now about that..." she whispered, kissing his head, "I use you for lots of things. A great job, those super cool woolen and polyester uniforms that I love so much, fantastic new gadgets, all that time working with the brilliant Dr. Rodney McKay, not to mention that cute little guy down the hall and the other little angel Teyla's cooking for us."

Daniel laughed, holding her tighter in his arms.

"Oh and hot sex," she added playfully, "I use you for hot sex too. And we know I was pretty damn low on that for a VERY long time."

"I love you Adrienne," he whispered in her ear as he chuckled, knowing she was trying to kid, as always, "I love you so much," and she pulled away, serious, her dark captivating eyes gazing into his.

"I'd do it all over again Daniel," she said as she rested her hand on his cheek, pecking his lips lightly, "I'd marry you all over again, everything, anything to be with you. I want you, as you are, and I want nothing from you but your love. I'm never going anywhere Daniel, ever, I promise."

A tear streaking down his cheek, Daniel pulled her close to his body, never wanting to let go.


	10. Chapter 10 - Discoveries

_Remember, the full version, with unedited erotic scene is under erotics. _

The gate clicked into action, Daniel peering up from his desk at the sound. It was time for their first off-world mission to return, the Atlantis commander eagerly awaiting the results.

"Incoming wormhole sir," Davidson came over the communicator, "First Recon team, on schedule." Smiling, Daniel looked over at the clock, pleased that the mission had only taken one night, as they had planned, Adrienne upset about leaving Nicholas for nothing. That had been a point of discussion, Adrienne adamant that Jack O'Neill would not be raising their family; that they needed to be parents and stop dumping their child in the retired general's hands. It wasn't that she had any problem with Jack, in fact his relationship with Nicholas had made her utterly adore him, but she felt that with one child here and another on the way that it simply wasn't responsible to be gallivanting all over the galaxy anymore. They had come to an agreement that unless it was absolutely necessary, there would always be one parent on base with Nicholas at all times, even if that one parent was working while the boy fished with Jack. Considering what Daniel himself had been through, both of his parents taken from him in the blink of an eye as they worked together, it hadn't taken much convincing.

And with that, Dr. Adrienne Jackson had essentially taken her husband's place on the flagship team of exploration while he pushed paper and tried to make sure that Rodney McKay didn't blow up the city.

As for their first night alone, with Mommy out exploring the wonders of the Pegasus, the two had managed just fine, having chocolate ice cream for dinner, watching some bad cartoons on DVD until they had passed out together in the bed, not even bothering to change into pajamas.

It was pretty fun, Daniel decided that would be their plan every time Adrienne was away, but he'd made his son swear secrecy. Adrienne would kill him for much of the above, but it was a father's job to let his son get away with junk food, staying up late and just general guy grossness.

"Thanks," he said, standing, going to greet his team and see if they had found the first of five gates that they needed to begin reconstruction and repair of the gate bridge.

That would be a great way to start the day.

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Adrienne reached behind herself to make sure the poor woman wasn't scared, her yellow-green eyes like saucers when the Cajun had activated the gate. She'd walked through though, without any objection, intent on meeting the leader of the new city they all thought was lost despite having never made the venture to Atlantis herself when the city was here before.

In addition, Dr. Adrienne Jackson wanted to have a talk with said leader as well since Rodney's MALP modifications apparently did NOT include a subterranean scan. Instead, the recon team's lead archaeologist had found these people when she went tumbling into a hole, a big hole, a really really big hole that made her rage out at anyone near her in profane Cajun as she almost sprained her ankle.

"Are you ok?" she asked, the blonde woman nodding in reply, blinking those same large cat-like eyes.

"I believe so, that was just..."

"Different," Teyla filled in, "it is a sensation that takes getting used to but it is perfectly safe."

Adrienne knew that last comment was intended for her, a small part of her still fearful one trip through the wormhole would result in the miscarriage of her child, but Teyla could read her like a book even if she were not empathic. Right now, her words and her face said 'the baby is fine, stop worrying.'

"We heard of our ancestors using it, we just did not know to where it would lead," the woman replied as her eyes scanned the Atlantis gateroom in complete wonder, much the same as Adrienne's had only a few years ago.

"We'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have just as soon as we get you a medical exam, no worries, standard protocol like we were talking about and I'd like to introduce you to our city commander- "

"Ad!" he interrupted, jogging down the small staircase headed straight for her. Cam was right, he did do the puppy dog thing when she came home, and she had to admit her own heart skipped a beat as he approached.

Damn distracting Daniel.

"Hey Sha, this is Luli, she's a representative of the Suban people, who were living UNDER the ground as the name denotes..." she chose her words carefully, trying to keep it professional as she hoped Daniel was picking up on what she was saying.

"It's a pleasure," he said as he gave her a look, yep Indy, let's rethink those damn scanners and have a conversation with Saint Rodney, extending his hand to greet her.

"She's here to learn a bit about the city and take that information back to her people, get relations underway..." Adrienne continued, hoping her husband caught her look now, one that clearly said Rodney's the one complaining but I'm being spread too thin, something she had discussed with Teyla and John AT LENGTH last night at camp.

"Well, welcome to Atlantis, and please let me, Adrienne or anyone know if we can be of any assistance while you are here," Daniel said professionally, Adrienne scanning his face for an indication of understanding when the woman smiled, sweetly, too sweetly, that kind of sweetly, as she retracted her hand ever so slowly.

_Are you KIDDING ME!? _

"I will," the words melted across her lips, Adrienne ordering herself not to roll her eyes at the display in front of her.

"Ad, can you get the team to the briefing room while Carson looks her over and just in case, have him scan Teyla as well," Daniel added, oblivious, as usual. Hell, it had taken her jumping him in her quarters to get him to acknowledge that he loved her, at least when she was awake, so why should his continued cluelessness surprise her?

"On it," she answered, at this point in their relationship finding things like this simply hilarious. She could almost hear Jack's voice in her head, chuckling, teasing about alien women...

_And yet he married a crazy Cajun..._

_Go figure._

Pushing his glasses up his face, Daniel tapped his ear, calling Rodney Adrienne hoped, as she extended her hands in front of herself to lead the way down to the infirmary, business as usual.

Let's see how long it takes, she thought, if the woman would say anything at all, her head turned back in Daniel's direction one final time.

_Three..._

_Two..._

_One..._

"Your commander is very handsome," Luli whispered the moment that Daniel was out of sight, John following behind giving him the quick run-down of the past twenty four hours.

Screw Teyla's empathy, Adrienne thought, I'm psychic.

"Yes, he is," Adrienne replied smoothly, trying not to smile.

"I imagine that it is quite distracting to work with him..." their visitor continued, peering back over her shoulder in the direction of the commander in question, yet again.

_Oh come on Ad, have fun with it..._

"It can be..." she answered with a sweet smile on her face that she finally allowed to grow, thinking back to the night before she left, his lips working their way so softly down her stomach...

_Mon ami ya have NO idea..._

"How do you do it? I would be unable to focus," the Suban emissary just kept going, completely enchanted, "his eyes are magical..."

Adrienne couldn't believe her ears. Jack wasn't kidding about alien women, she HAD to stop by his room to tell him, he would absolutely die. It was too much, she was already pondering what she would tell Jack, and she couldn't control herself any longer, stopping to giggle hysterically, her hands on her knees.

"Is something wrong?" the woman asked kneeling to join her as Adrienne waved her hand as the hysterics continued, barely noticing Teyla coming to a halt beside her. Breathing in deeply, she just had to do it, Adrienne stood upright, looking their visitor straight in the eye.

"I just wait until we go to bed at night before I jump him, get out all of my frustrations then, if you'll excuse me for one sec," she replied as straight faced as she could, walking ahead to catch Sam before she turned the corner to take her in the opposite direction of where they were going. Dumbfounded, the poor Suban woman stood in the passageway, at a complete loss for words.

"The city commander is Dr. Daniel Jackson," Teyla explained gently, emphasis on the final word, as she placed her hand on the woman's shoulder, "He is her life mate."

"I, uh, well, I did not, did I offend Dr. Jackson, I mean, that Dr. Jackson?" she stammered, her eyes on Adrienne, who walking ahead, still laughing, loudly, catching Sam by her sleeve to confer about something in the hallway which wasn't really working since she couldn't contain herself.

"No," the Athosian shook her head, "you have merely given her more reasons to tease him," she replied sweetly as poor Luli continued to blush, watching the tall laughing woman attempt to talk to her colleague.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"It's inhabited?" Daniel asked as he closed the door to his office, John making a beeline for the coffee maker.

"Yep, thank Rodney for sending us on a wild goose chase," he shot over his shoulder, shaking his head as he tapped the button, firing the machine to life.

"Please tell me Adrienne's not beating herself up?" his second concern coming to the forefront but John was already shaking his head.

"Nah, I thought she would too, but she had the entire initial read-out in her files. He led her to believe that scan went underground as well. I think she was more pissed off about that more than anything else," John responded, Daniel breathing a sigh of relief.

"Which," the colonel continued as he turned, talking over the percolator going behind him, "does bring up a good point. If Rodney's only duty now is the gate bridge, which he has essentially roped Sam into completing with him, a lot of things that are not part of her job are falling to Addy. She did mention that last night..."

Sighing out again, in exasperation this time, Daniel took a seat, somehow knowing it would come to this. He had promised Adrienne so much when she agreed to come, that she'd get to lead research in an area never explored by any archaeologist, that as time passed she would be conducting major digs and be able to train her staff just as she liked, that they would raise their son in paradise and it would be the dream he always imagined it would be. Sure, they'd expected challenges, but what they hadn't expected was for Sam to arrive, for the gate bridge to become the top priority over anything else and for Adrienne to have to do the job of three people. Even Nicholas was talking about not seeing her much and when he did, she would fall dead asleep on the sofa, Daniel having to carry her to bed.

"No, I know, I need to do something, I just have no idea who to get," he answered honestly, at a complete loss, "she has her staff excavating what's left of the Athosian village; she's hasn't gotten to go down there herself once. I haven't figured out what to do just yet."

"I know, but I told her I'd talk to you, you know, on a professional level. She thinks bringing it up at home is whining and currying favor, her words, not mine."

That would be exactly how she'd handle it; Adrienne would never want to feel like she let anyone down or use her position as his wife to have it easier. If anything, she used her position on the base to get herself out of various restrictions, namely ones regarding overworking oneself.

"I'll get on it, we'll have the supply ship in a few days, then I can get back with Cam," Daniel muttered, more grumbling really, cuing up his tablet, "so tell me more about the Suban."

Pouring two cups, one for he and his commander, John Sheppard came and took a seat at the desk, eager to share what they had found.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"That lass is as pale as a ghost," Carson whispered making Teyla chuckle while he performed the scan.

"They live underground to escape the Wraith, but we did not get to see the city," she said allowing herself to be comfortable as the tingles caused by the scanner coursed through her body.

"Her eyes creep me out but don't say anything," the doctor quickly added, Teyla giggling.

"They all were like that," she replied, peering over to check as Jennifer scanned their guest, "all had very feline eyes. Samantha said that often animals that are nocturnal appear the same."

"It's sad to think how long they've had to live without seeing the sun because of those monsters," Carson grumbled, a sentiment that Teyla did have to agree on.

But then there was Todd, who against all odds didn't really seem like much of a monster anymore.

"How's the baby?" she asked instead, wanting to ease Adrienne's constant worries and Kanaan's as well. He seemed to have decided that the Jackson child was his as much as it was Daniel's and oddly, in direct contrast to everything she had learned about Earth parents, Daniel and Adrienne didn't seem to mind, in fact, they embraced the very idea of the city as a large extended family. Teyla surmised it had to do with their upbringing, Daniel losing parents himself at a young age and Adrienne losing her mother and having to care for her father for so long. They wanted their son to have everything that they were unable to have themselves and more, an admirable sentiment.

"Lookin' good, lookin'..." the doctor paused, reading the scan, "well dear me..."

"Carson is something the matter?"

"Not at all, well, I don't think," he stood, tapping a few more things into the screen, his eyes darting back and forth rapidly, "Teyla, I think, well, I think I can tell the sex of the baby..."

"Already?" she started to sit, realizing that she was being restricted by the scanner, moaning in frustration, "but is it not visible until twenty weeks for an Earth woman; I believe I am at approximately ten and I am Athoisan."

"That's the thing," he was on the verge of a ramble she could tell, his face furrowed in confusion, "yes, biologically you're only ten weeks, but if I didn't know that, if I hadn't implanted the embryo myself, I would say you're at least sixteen weeks if not further."

"But that's not possible," she protested, and Carson couldn't help but laugh, "and I have not grown that large in my abdomen..."

"Did you forget whose child you're carrying?" he replied, peeking up from the scanner, "Nothing that happens to Daniel and Addy is anywhere near normal. Baby seems to be just moving around to make it's own space."

"But everything is alright?" Teyla's soul coursed with worry, they deserved this, they wanted this, and the galaxy needed this generation of children to thrive and flourish.

"Perfectly, like I was saying, for sixteen or maybe even eighteen weeks, in fact you are gonna start showing a lot more very soon by the looks of it, but everything's perfect, you all have a perfectly healthy baby-"

"Don't tell me," Teyla spoke quickly, "I do not wish to know. I would like to speak with Daniel and Adrienne first to see if they would like to know or if they wish for it to be a surprise. We shall decide together."

Nodding, Carson stepped away from the scanner, walking around the other side to free his patient.

"Fine, fine, I'll keep my mouth shut," he teased, reaching to help her stand, "you're good to go, and it looks like our guest has cleared as well." The sound of the woman's voice thanking Jennifer for her kindness indicated that Carson was correct, meaning the rest of the team could be scanned by hand scanners after the briefing, or during if Carson had his way.

He liked his staff healthy.

Resting her feet on the cool floor, Teyla walked over to where Luli was standing herself, touching her body in confusion.

"Nothing penetrated my body, she did not touch me, yet in a moment she knew that I was no danger and carrying no disease," she said in complete amazement, much in the way Teyla herself had in the beginning.

"Yes, it is amazing technology," the Athosian agreed, her hand involuntarily holding her abdomen, the result of the amazing technology in question.

"We have sickness at times; do you think these technologies could help?" Luli asked. Yes was Teyla's first response but she didn't want to offer anything that wasn't hers to give. So far there seemed to be nothing malicious about the Suban people, a race only slightly more technologically advanced than the Athosians, but the decision as to extent of their relations would be Daniel's and the SGC's and not hers.

"That is why we have brought you here," she replied, "to begin to forge those very friendships that can in the future help your people."

Safe enough answer, she thought, hoping she could get a moment with Addy before the briefing started.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

The ship would need to feed again, and they were running out of food.

It had been easy enough to lie to Halling about what had happened; that Todd had kidnapped Kanaan and that other woman, wanting to take the hive for his own. Ford explained to them Todd's history, how he used to be a leader and twice had screwed up so badly that he had lost the position. Now, returned to the Pegasus he saw them as weak, vulnerable, and he had a chance to take the hive and the city of Atlantis. It was as simple as he expected; believing a Wraith to be evil was second nature to an Athoisan.

As for Dr. Daniel Jackson, he refused to discuss that with Halling any further. Ford knew the man didn't want to meet him, fairly certain that was John Sheppard's doing as well. Chances were that John Sheppard was most likely behind all of this, right down to the missing Wraith since the colonel had formed some strange bond with the creature. Regardless, he had what he needed until this point, a crew that trusted in him and he knew what had to be done.

Now, he just needed food.

There was still the one jumper ship, the one that the Wraith had arrived in, and it didn't require the fuel that the hive did now. Accompanied by two of his best men, Ford made his way to the vessel, determined to take it to the planet's surface to get what he needed.

They would have a choice, give it to him or he would take it. Either way, he had enough fire power among his trio to show them that he meant business.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Adrienne peeked over her shoulder, hoping the approaching footsteps were Jack bringing Nicholas to see her before the briefing, but it was Teyla and her husband's latest fan instead. That meant that the troublesome twosome of Atlantis had either found a good fishing hole or Nicholas had another idea concerning the education of the base's children.

Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to give him the access codes to DATA, after all, heaven knows what the child would come up with.

"Adrienne, can I speak with you a moment?" she asked a look on her face that concerned Adrienne considering where she had just come from. Her pace was brisk as well, Adrienne about to shout out and ask if everything was alright when Sam came out from the briefing room, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Hey, I've got everything ready and John's still in with Daniel if you want to go and see Nicky before we get started."

Bless Sam, Adrienne thought, they might not have been as close as she and Vala but the former general read Adrienne nearly as well.

"Thanks, yeah..." she muttered, or something close, Sam stepping forward to usher their ambassador into the briefing room, starting to grill her, albeit politely about the underground infrastructure.

"Is everything ok? Is the baby alright? I know that Carson said that wormhole travel is harmless but I have my reservations, and I don't care what Daniel says, I will march in their right now and tell him you and me travel by jumper end of story -" the Cajun was already in full ramble as Teyla reached out to place her hand over her mouth.

"Our child is fine," she said, using the term that Adrienne herself said she didn't mind, "but there is something that I need to both inform you of and ask."

"What?" Adrienne spat out, taking the hand from her face as the Athosian woman again smiled.

"It seems, for reasons that Carson is already looking in to, that the child is growing faster than normal..."

Adrienne was sure her face was in total panic, her computer-like brain trying to remember everything she had read about Nicholas, the DNA of the Cajun people, what Daniel offered into the equation as a descended being, and how in the hell the poor thing might be affected being carried by an Athoisan, one who had special traits even for her race.

"There is no cause for alarm, everything looks well, very well Carson says, but there is something that you and Daniel might want to know," and there was that smile again, Adrienne now thoroughly confused.

"Adrienne, please be calm, Carson simply informed me that if we would like, we are able find out the sex of the baby," she explained as the Cajun's jaw dropped.

With that statement and that statement alone Adrienne's brain went into overdrive.

Was it another boy?

Was it a girl?

Did they want to know?

Would Daniel want to know?

What would Nicholas think if he knew?

"You can talk with him after the briefing, I want it to be your decision," Teyla added, Adrienne nodding up and down slowly, still unable to form words.

"And now I'm getting dragged down here to see how the cave men live underground, isn't that YOUR area of expertise DR. Jackson," Rodney was ranting from down the hall before she could answer or even look for Daniel.

"There is time," Teyla whispered with a gentle clasp of Adrienne's arm as the scientist pushed past them, "Carson says that with this growth he would like to see me again tomorrow to run more tests and check weekly after that. If you would like, we can all find out together tomorrow."

Letting go of Adrienne's bicep, she slipped into the briefing room, leaving the archaeologist to ponder her words.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

At first Daniel was surprised to see Jack enter the room shortly after Adrienne until he saw his son following behind, tablet computer in hand. He would have sent Nicholas away immediately, but Adrienne had adjusted the MALP, doing underground scans to confirm that the tribe of people to whom this woman belonged were harmless and doing just what the Travelers had done, advancing their technology only enough to avoid the Wraith. He still thought that Nicholas had no business attending briefings but he was fairly certain that Adrienne was using this as a learning experience. Given that she probably was, he needed to see how the DATA system was going in the classroom since one year olds do not belong in briefings. The boy hopped up into his mother's chair, however, like he was supposed to be there, Jack taking the seat beside him, Adrienne cuing up the visual presentation.

"Everyone here Indy?" she asked, Daniel scanning the room to be sure. First Recon team was present, along with Rodney, their guest from the Suban, and apparently Jack and Nicholas who was beaming at him.

"Looks like it," he replied, sitting, giving the floor to her.

"Luli," Adrienne began, her eyes over at the woman who, if possible, was paler than her, "please feel free to fill in the gaps since we were unable to get any footage of your city."

"Of course," she answered shyly, why Daniel didn't quite understand.

"Today we had the honor of meeting the Suban people, on a planet we are classifying as M7R-090," and there went the slides, of the surface as she had told him, "formerly believed to be abandoned for nearly a millennia, as per our last briefing, you all will remember the atmosphere is comparable to Earth, showing similar seasonal change."

He watched as the images clicked by, ones clearer than the MALP, of vast grasslands and two suns blazing down on the surface.

"As you can see from your files," she continued, Daniel looking down at his tablet, when did she have time to do this, she just got back, never mind, this was Adrienne, his time with her taught him not to question, "the general readouts on the planet are acceptable as well to sustain homo-sapian life which, as it turns out, it still does."

Daniel tried to contain a chuckle; Adrienne was pissed at Rodney and each and every line in this presentation was just gonna be another jab.

"Homo-sapian?" Luli was confused, Sam ready to explain.

"People, like us, upright evolved primates."

"Hairless monkeys," Jack joked, Nicholas giggling into his hand.

"We were here," Adrienne continued, ignoring Jack much like Daniel ignored Vala, "at this waterway where we found Luli."

"Yes," the woman raised her hand to interrupt, "our scanners indicated there was life on the surface so we came to see what it was."

"You didn't think you'd be walking into a Wraith trap?" Daniel questioned quickly, the woman shaking her head.

"No, that sounds a separate alarm," she replied, Daniel noting Ronon sitting forward in his seat.

"You have a Wraith alarm?" he inquired, Luli nodding in reply.

"Yes, their hearts beat at a faster rate and our scientists were able to create an alarm that differentiates between their heart rate and ours," she explained, Daniel making a quick note on the tablet with his finger. So much for being primitive, he thought, that seemed like pretty advanced technology that he wanted his security team to get on right away.

"Can we see it?" Ronon continued, Luli nodding in reply.

"Of course."

"That being said," Adrienne looked concerned, Daniel trying to read her face, "what we know at this point is that the Suban people have lived underground, hiding from the Wraith for at least fourteen generations, by my calculations seven hundred Earth years."

That was where she trailed, at the number, Daniel having no idea what his wife was trying to imply as she stared right at him. Was it that they were more advanced than they originally thought or something else? He started to ask when he caught her, glancing over a Luli for support,

"Luli?" Adrienne now asked, her eyes off of his somewhat, cutting and looking back, "would you mind telling us about your people."

"Certainly," she said, gazing around the room, "but there is not much to tell. As Dr. Jackson has already stated my people moved underground what we have been taught is fourteen generations in the past. There were existing caverns that were used to hide villagers from the Wraith, and our forefathers used their knowledge of science to make it livable underground. We are not sequestered there, however, but we are able to go months without contact with the outside world."

"And your system of government?" he had to ask, figuring he would be dealing with much more than a petite woman with cat-like eyes.

"We have a council of elders, similar to what was done with our ancestors, but the council is elected and rotates every five solar cycles. You must be at least forty cycles to serve on the council and have worked within the city for a minimum of twenty five."

Daniel cringed, not at her explanation, but at the idea that over forty for them was considered an elder. Yeah Ad, he thought before he could control himself, tell me I'm not old again.

"It was the council that sent me to meet with you, once they saw that you were not Wraith," Luli added, "they wanted to see who was walking on the surface without being fearful of dying."

"The Wraith had their asses handed to them," Vala interjected, sitting back in her chair, "there aren't many left."

"How?"

Frowning, Daniel shot a glare at Vala, daring her to explain further.

"There seems to have been a war in our absence, which caused a power vacuum," he said, his eyes still on Vala, "the Wraith are still present in the galaxy but their forces are considerably diminished."

Daniel watched as the woman sat in her chair, quietly, considering his words, gazing down at her hands. She didn't say a word, move a muscle and he was about to ask her to continue talking about their city when she finally looked up, right at him, tears streaming down her face.

"We're safe?"

"Not entirely," again he spoke first, John nodding his head in agreement, "but as I said, their forces have been significantly diminished."

She was silent again, taking in what had been said, that the creatures that had tormented her people for seven hundred years were all but gone if these strange people were right. He empathized, remembering having this same conversation about the Goa'uld over and over again with a similar reaction.

"We would like you to come to our city," she was talking again, her eyes darting around the room, "please come and meet our elders."

Which was exactly what he had in mind, the team to go forming in his head already, Adrienne, John, Ronon and Vala, the four toughest staff members he had, just in case there were a double cross or in case Ford had beat him to this planet.

"I agree," he said as he stood, cutting the briefing short to plan with John, "in fact, I'd like Colonel Sheppard to begin to assemble what is needed to make that visit. Luli, you are welcome to stay for the night or you may head back to inform your council that we welcome them to the city and would be honored to be allowed to visit."

"I'd like to return, give my people this wonderful news."

"Of course, we understand," Daniel replied, "John would you mind escorting her back to the gate and to her city? You and Ronon?"

"No problem." John answered as he stood, Ronon following. The trio started across the room when Luli suddenly stopped, turning to face them again.

"You all have brought me the best news of our city's history. Thank you," tears in her eyes again, she let John lead her back to the gate.

"I think that's it for now," Daniel announced as the door slid shut behind him, Rodney slamming his tablet onto the table.

"I was interrupted for that?"

"No," Daniel started right in, his second problem of the day needing dealing with, and it didn't hurt to be a hero to your wife once in a while, "you were brought down because YOUR MALP scan said there were no life forms."

"YOUR wife did the scan."

"With YOUR machine," Daniel shot back.

"I thought she was a computer genius," he sneered, Daniel breathing in deeply.

_Don't kill him..._

"And she's already doing too much shit as it is," Vala said for him, "you're lucky Daniel hasn't come down to your lab and kicked your ass fifteen ways to Friday."

_Ok, wrong slang Vala, but good enough. _

"I'm terribly sorry that Dr. Jackson is feeling a bit stressed, maybe she should spend less time playing with her Star Trek toy..."

"Maybe I should spend MORE time checking behind you Dr. McKay since you seems to be slipping," Adrienne finally spoke, the Cajun glare boring right through him. Daniel let him squirm for a moment; that was a look you never wanted from Adrienne, ever.

"Rodney," Daniel remained as calm as possible, but Adrienne's glare seemed to do the trick, hell, it still did for him and he was married to her, "the gate bridge is your project and we need the MALPs to scan for everything if we're to find gates that we can use. I need all of the MALPs inspected for the flaw immediately."

Grumbling about morons and power trips, Rodney stood from his seat, pushing past Vala and Teyla to storm out of the room.

"I thought I was supposed to throw the tantrums," Nicholas finally spoke, Jack laughing.

"Nope munchkin, that area is a close tie between McKay and your dad."

Daniel shot Jack a look, scanning the rest of his staff.

"That's all I guess. Ad, I need a report as soon as possible even though I'm sure it's already in my inbox, Teyla if you can assist with that if she hasn't I would appreciate it. Sam, can you make sure that Rodney is doing what I asked, just, well, do it like you do that makes him not explode because I don't want to hear it and Nicholas, could you and Jack do me a favor and straighten up the auxiliary lab next to your mother's?"

"Sure Dad," the boy answered, albeit puzzled, "why?"

"Just getting crazy in there and I need to meet with John about the Suban."

"Yes sir!" and the boy was off, Jack lagging behind.

"Nanny is one thing, maid, Danny boy is quite another," he said with a frown, Daniel shrugging.

"Just trying to keep him busy."

"I'm like an elephant Daniel," Jack yelled behind as he followed the boy out, "I never forget and I don't do toilets."

"Thank you Jack!" Daniel shouted sarcastically as the rest of the senior staff filed out of the room, Daniel already wishing for a Twinkie.

"Sha?" he heard Adrienne whisper, the sound of the door closing following the lone word, not all of his staff leaving apparently. He turned from the massive list of information sitting in front of him on the tablet, to see his wife leaning against the door, beaming.

"What's that look for? Let me guess? The report's done and was hours ago?" he asked as he read the mess, wanting a distraction of her at the very moment even though they really didn't have the time.

She'd looked gorgeous coming back from that mission...

Not saying a word, she continued to smile as she pulled out a chair, indicating he take as seat beside where she was taking one herself.

Odd...

"No, just the prelims, I'll get you the rest before dinner. This is personal Indy, about the baby," she said as she reached out for his hand sweetly.

"What about the baby?" he kept his replies cryptic and unemotional only because he was trying his level best to not panic, but she was smiling, Daniel thoroughly confused.

"Ok, don't freak out," never good to start a conversation with those words Ad, "but he or she is growing, faster than normal..."

"Wait? What? What's wrong?!" And there was the panic, Daniel's heart racing in his chest.

"Nothing, Carson is running some blood and wants to run a second set of tests tomorrow, but it just seems to be a result of our lovely little DNA cocktail, maybe even has something to do with Teyla being thrown in the mix."

"So there's no health risk? To the baby or Teyla?" he now asked, concerned for Teyla nearly as much as he was his second child.

"Not that Carson has said, but he's gonna monitor the situation carefully."

"How fast is fast?" was his next question and Adrienne was beaming with excitement again, her hands talking before she was.

"Right now she is, size wise, anywhere between sixteen and eighteen weeks..."

"Sixteen to eighteen weeks!? Ad, that is nearly twice as fast as normal? How is that safe? How come Teyla isn't as big as a house?"

"Daniel," she was calm, she was the only thing keeping him calm, gazing deep into his eyes, "Carson is taking care of this. He's the best and if we get the gatebridge working, Carolyn is only a call away, a stone away if needed, but that's not the only thing I need to tell you..."

"Ok..."

"Sha, we can find out the sex of the baby, tomorrow when Carson runs a full scan and ultrasound. Actually, according to Teyla, he knows but didn't want to say anything until we decided if we wanted to know," she explained, reaching her other hand to clasp his free one, running her thumbs on his knuckles, "I wanna know. I had thought we'd let this one be a surprise, but I wanna know, I mean it has to be a joint decision, but Indy, can we?"

He chuckled; of course he would want to know, why would she think he didn't?

"What if I don't wanna know?" he teased anyway, still slightly worried, but Adrienne wasn't so he desperately tried to take a cue from her.

"I said please..."

"And out of this I am getting..."

"My eternal love and devotion," she started, biting her lower lip coyly, "and I'll cook Cajun. Lots of Cajun and not lecture you for a moment about heart disease..."

"What time's the appointment?" he asked with a smile, Adrienne leaping into his arms, nearly knocking them both back, chair and all.

"It's real Daniel," she whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek softly, "the baby, our life, it just keeps getting better."

"It does," he muttered as he hugged her tightly, trying to get in as much as he could before he had to keep working, "it really does. Now, I was thinking a nice gumbo..."

"You be lucky dere's not a pilla in here cooyon," she joked as she kissed his nose.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

He'd had to take it, but he'd anticipated that. His Wraith had assisted in the culling and the attachment of the culled to the ship, which was feeding as it needed. One of the engineers reported that they would be able to fly in approximately ten hours, which was just fine to Aiden Ford who needed time himself to plan.

Dr. Jackson was intelligent, he gleaned that much from his short visit with his people and his reputation was known all over Atlantis before he left. That and the man had a weakness.

His family.

Kanaan had spoken of the man's family, a wife, a boy and a child that his own wife was carrying. The man's devotion was so strong that according to the Athosian, Daniel Jackson had single handedly defeated a fierce enemy back in the Milky Way just to save his wife and child.

That meant that was where he needed to strike.

Locking the door to the main room. Aiden Ford lit the small corner lamp to examine the layout of the city.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Are you asleep?" Adrienne whispered as she picked her head off of his chest, peeking up to see for herself if he was.

"Nope, are you?" he answered quickly, chuckling, running his fingers down her back lightly.

"I asked you cooyon, ah course I'm nah. I can't," she said but cuddled closer rather than pull away.

"Me neither."

"What I don't get is, growth or not, how is it that we can find out sooner? I know that even at twenty weeks on Earth there is no guarantee that the doctor will be correct, there've been studies," and she was up, of course, dark Cajun eyes locked on his.

"I think you need to stop looking up studies, would you like me to bring up anything about our early days with Nicholas? I'm thinking it has to do with how the scanning systems work, it's more of an exact science than ultrasound technology, analyzes DNA and other factors," his mouth answered while his eyes looked at the clock. It was one in the morning; of course his wife would have concerns about something she had read in a medical journal at one in the morning...

"I'm excited to know," and she was back down again, thankfully, cuddling into his arms.

"Me too..." and back to rubbing too.

"What do you want?" she asked now, more questions and no intention of sleeping.

"A healthy baby," he replied, kissing Adrienne's forehead softly.

"Liar."

"Ok, don't believe me... What do YOU want?" Let her answer, he thought, with all of that analysis she's gone through on this...

"Ten fingers and toes."

Or maybe there hadn't been any over analysis this time...

"See, so we're either both liars OR we both don't care."

"Honestly, it would be cool either way. Nicholas was the greatest surprise of my life..." she added, Daniel pushing her aside playfully.

"Hey..."

"Nicholas was a surprise sha," she murmured as she ran her lips across his face, resting lightly at his own, "you were meant to be..."

"Nice save..." he brought their lips together, parting her mouth with his and beginning to explore it slowly.

"Stop," she shoved him back, giggling, "I was trying to analyze what we're having..."

_How did I think for a second that there wasn't going to be over analysis?_

_I can handle this..._

He moved his lips from hers, letting them brush her cheek, kissing along her jawline, down her neck...

"Keep talking, I'm listening," he said only with a quick pause, resuming his activity.

"If we have a boy then Nicholas can," she paused herself, gasping in quickly, "bond with a brother..."

_And the spot..._

"And if it's a girl," he stopped kissing there and went straight down to her collar bone, his right hand pushing up her shirt.

"If it's a girl we have one of each," she grumbled as his hand reached her breast, squeezing gently, "dammit Indy what's gotten in ya..." he removed his hand only reach for her pajama pants, peering up with a grin as he did.

"When you came back today..."

"What hot, sweaty, disgusting and with surprise aliens?"

"Yes," he smiled as he pulled them down to her knees, a mischievous grin in his eye.

"THAT has you turned on?" her voice was trembling but confused as well as he pulled her pants off of her ankles.

"Not sure what it was about it," he continued, kissing down her stomach, slowly, gently, going ever so lower and lower, "but I can't stop thinking about it..."

"I've showered," she joked, the very hot and sweaty team clothes in question being washed at this very moment.

"I can tell," and he was moving across her pelvis to her thigh, his kisses light and sweet sending shivers up her spine.

"We were having a nice conversation..."

"You can keep talking, I'm busy," he muttered, laughing...

"I forgot what we were talking about," Adrienne relented as she closed her eyes, allowing the pleasure to coarse through her body.

"The sex of the baby, we find out tomorrow," he answered smartly as Adrienne's head popped back up.

"Why'd you stop?" she whined, frowning.

"I thought you were concerned with the conversation..."

"I hate you," she spat, frowning, her husband laughing and pulling his hand away.

"No you don't," and he parted her again, reaching to pull her hips closer, letting his tongue glide sensually from her entrance to her front and back again.

"No, you're right," she stammered out, relaxing back, "I don't..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Adrienne rolled over in bed, wondering what time it was since neither the alarm nor her husband had awakened her when she caught the sun streaming into their room from the balcony.

"Indy!" she shouted out, no answer from the kitchenette area.

"Nicholas!" she tried, nothing in that regard either.

"What in da 'ell?" she swore, sitting up from the bed when she noticed a note on her nightstand, familiar handwriting scratched across it.

_I let you sleep in, you needed it. _

_Don't be mad, because once you're up I need you in my office ASAP._

_-D _

_Oh, and I hope you're waking up before noon, because we find out what we are having a one thirty. _

_Love you. _

He was right, she did need it. Not only had he kept her up, for a while, a long pleasurable while, but the moment he cuddled beside her, beating her to sleep she was back to worrying.

About the baby.

About Aiden Ford.

And about the Suban.

Not that she felt anything to be worried about from the nice woman, she even felt bad for embarrassing her over her comment about Daniel, but it was the name itself that worried her.

Suban.

Latinish, or Ancient rather, for underground.

But the Ancients had left the Pegasus over ten thousand years ago. The Suban had been underground for only seven hundred years and did NOT speak anything that remotely sounded like Ancient.

Then, where did the name come from?

The Ancients were long gone by the time the Suban people had taken to caves.

Adrienne had asked what language it was, and Luli did not know, saying only that their ancestors had named the tribe and that was all. She hoped that she would be able to glean more information once they returned to the planet, but it still wasn't sitting right with her at the moment. Maybe that was what Daniel had noticed as well; maybe he was on the same wavelength.

Biting her lip, Adrienne stood from the bed, hearing the sound of fabric hitting the cool floor. She looked down, Daniel's boxer's being the culprit, making her smile.

"Damn cooyon," she muttered, heading for the shower.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

It was nearly noon when Adrienne was knocking at his door, Daniel half tempted to make a joke about Cajun time but he didn't. He would never tire of looking at her, watching her glide across a room like she did, knowing that she was his and his alone.

He'd just never thought he'd end up with someone like her.

"Morning Indy," she said with a flush of her cheeks, her head cocking slightly at the clock.

"It's 2015, you missed morning," he finally joked, his wife rolling her eyes as she took the seat across from his own.

"What did I do?" she started in right away as he let the frown spread across his face.

"What didn't you do?" he replied.

"Look, if you don't like the Star Trek thing, fine, I'll change it to something else, just let me finish configuring with - "

"Stop."

"Stop what?"

"Talking, I need you to listen, not as my wife but as one of my department heads," he began slowly, Adrienne already beginning to grumble.

"I don't like where this is going..."

"Ad, why were you hired?" he asked, watching her shift uncomfortably in her seat.

"According to Oma, it was your destiny," she tried, seeing where this was going right away.

"Cute, let's try this again," he said, "Sam hired you because..."

"You fell asleep on keyboards, which I have not done yet, not once!" she argued, Daniel shaking his head.

"Alright, back to husband mode," he tried, taking a breath, "how many times have you passed out on the couch and I've had to carry you to bed?"

"I don't know..." she whispered.

"Three in the past two weeks ja-wer, three," he had been counting, and her speaking to John about it on the mission only confirmed what he was already thinking, "you're back to killing yourself."

"Shouldn't have opened my stupid big mouth to stupid John," and she was back to grumbling, Daniel shaking his head.

"You need help, you're right," he offered, Adrienne's hands shooting up in protest.

"I have a staff, a very tired overworked staff that is still sorting through and trying to relocate the civilizations that the last expedition encountered."

"No Ad," he said calmly, knowing that she was gonna have the same reaction that he did to her hire so many years ago, "you need an assistant."

"No."

Yep, exactly the same reaction.

"You DO realize if Sam had listened to ME that WE would not exist. There would be no 'Jacksons' just ME alone, and miserable," he had prepared his argument carefully.

"Yep, but I'm not in the market for a mate. I've got one of those. Unless of course I kill him, which right now I'm pretty damn close to doin'," and it appeared for a moment not to be an idle threat.

"Ja-wer, I'm worried..."

"No, there is no one Daniel. I can't have Jonas, who I REALLY want because who would that leave the SGC?" she admitted, her husband peeking at his own list of options.

"What about Vala?"

"Would you let Vala in your lab?"

"I used to..."

"Did you have a choice?"

"Point taken," Daniel replied, scanning the list, "what about bringing Ann Mardsen over?"

"She would never come, it's essentially a demotion," she countered, having a point on that as well.

"A cadet?"

"Did YOU take a cadet?" she hissed.

"I'll take that as a no..."

The couple dropped to silence, Daniel suddenly seeing Sam's side in his original situation. He was about to suggest getting a communication stone, heading over to talk to Cam, he wanted to thank him for a few things that he had sent on the last run when Adrienne looked up at him smiling.

"Teyla," she said, her face excited like she got when she wanted to explain, "she's perfect! She wants an education, an Earth education and at the rate the baby is growing she's gonna be base bound shortly. She's intelligent, cunning, a hard worker and, well, she's Teyla. Let me teach her, I have credentials, I miss teaching and if we ever had to go back to Earth she would have REAL credentials herself to match whatever fake ID they'd give her."

It was actually a great idea.

Initially, Daniel, Carson and Teyla had decided that Teyla could feasibly continue as a team member through the second and well into the third trimester but that was when growth was normal. With the irregular and strange growth that Teyla was now experiencing it would be best to sideline her from off world missions both for her sake and the baby's. That and given everything, he knew she'd agree.

"I'll talk to her," Adrienne volunteered before Daniel could suggest the same, "I'll explain it to her but I know she'll say yes. She's about like me when it comes to sitting still." Daniel smiled at the statement knowing it to be true.

"Now, we can do this ja-wer, provided you actually cut back your hours. Boss hat, I don't need MALP mistakes like yesterday, which is why Rodney and I are having this conversation right after you leave because that's exactly what he did. Husband hat, I don't like finding you passed out all over our quarters and Nicholas likes to see his Mom once in a while," he scolded gently Adrienne nodding her head.

"Indy?"

"Yea," he said as he stood to kiss her goodbye, two more meetings left before their appointment.

"I have a bad feeling about the Suban..."

And he sat again, noting that she herself hadn't stood.

"Why you didn't tell me yesterday?" or in bed last night he started to ask until he realized that she was venting in bed last night, probably about more than just the sex of their child when he decided that he wanted too... "Nevermind, what's wrong?"

"Their name," she said shaking her head, "it's like a form of Ancient. Roughly it means..."

"Under, you said that when they arrived, I caught that too," he said, Adrienne shaking her head.

"Right, which you would assume they were settled by the Ancients, but no, Luli knew no other Ancient or near Ancient words. We still need to go to the city, but other than the name, it seemed that there was no other Ancient influence," she continued but her husband frowned.

"Adrienne, there are a lot of civilizations that never encountered the Ancients. They left this galaxy nearly ten thousand years ago," he argued, but he could tell by the look on her face she was unconvinced.

"But the name? Indy, that's like a village being named something named, I dunno, something Macedonian somewhere in India centuries after the death of Alexander."

Leave it to Adrienne to find a Daniel-like argument that would essentially give her more work. Sometimes he wondered if fate was punishing him by marrying someone as workaholic and stubborn as he was.

No, he thought trying not to chuckle, I told ten year old Addy to behave like this, this is really all my fault.

"Just keep it in mind," he replied, "when Luli gets back and the team heads over, don't tell anyone else what you're thinking but make a few notes. Most likely it's just a word that's been passed on from the time of the Ancients, but let's stay on this," he said as he stood again, determined to give her one quick kiss before she had to go when he noticed a jar sitting at the side of his desk, remembering with a smirk.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" she asked, slipping her hands to his waist and following his eyes.

"Your boyfriend," he said, pulling away and reaching for the floor, "he sent you a gift."

Shaking his head, he clasped the jar, passing the strong liquid to his wife.

"Peach moonshine," Daniel said with a smile, Adrienne's face filled with delight.

"Oh my gawd Cameron Mitchell you bon neg!" she shouted as she snatched the jar from Daniel's hand, opening it and taking a swig.

"Ad, it's the middle of the day!"

"It's shine, there always be an exception for shine," she said as she swallowed, breathing out with sheer delight.

"Ya promised me to make me some of ya own," she said, spinning on her heels and shaking the jar over her head, "and yet ya 'aven't ahn Cam 'as supplied. Betta step up ya game Indee."

"One thirty Ad!" he shouted behind her frowning, "don't be late!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

Halling sat at the table waiting for Aiden Ford so he could voice his concerns.

He was fairly certain that the youngest of the Athosian survivors were on the enzyme, not only had their fighting skills improved but they had taken to more animal-like behaviors. They wanted the glory, they wanted to rule, they wanted all things not Athosian but Wraith.

The screams as well, the screams that he had tried so hard to ignore, had diminished and Halling knew this was because those poor souls had been fed to the ship. He'd believed Ford's story that they were evil men, prisoners of war, but he was starting to think differently.

To make matters worse, his concerns were only compounded when those very young people were taken by Ford and his lackeys to the surface of the Genaii home world to meet with their leaders in order to reschedule the negotiations with Atlantis and Dr. Jackson. Halling, however, knew that was not what was going to happen. He knew, deep inside his soul, that there were going to be no negotiations, there was not going to be anything that one could remotely akin to peace.

There was going be war and the Athosians were not going to be a part of it.

Kanaan had led them through all of this and he was gone, left to flee to what Halling was certain was Atlantis. He knew his old friend hadn't abandoned them, instead had chosen the side that would end this madness.

The door clicked, the old Athosian man glancing up from his seat to see Aiden Ford stroll arrogantly into the room.

His request would be simple; he would thank Ford for what he had done, how he had beaten the Wraith into submission and request that his people be left on a world suitable to their needs.

Taking a breath, he drew his chocolate brown eyes to gaze at the black eyed man entering the room, knowing now he could only hope for the best.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Are you all ready?" Carson asked as Daniel's heart raced in his chest. He was prepared, prepared for either but he was terrified as well. If it was a boy, would he be in constant competition with Nicholas, Nicholas who he had not allowed to come, leaving him with Jack. Why he didn't know, they were gonna tell the boy right away, but he just felt that this needed to be between he, Adrienne and Teyla. On the other hand, if it was a girl, would Daniel become one of those fathers that went ballistic when anyone ever looked in their direction?

"Sha?" Adrienne's palm was at his bicep, rubbing lightly, "Earth to Daniel."

"We are ready to discover the sex of the child," Teyla added, reaching out her hand as well.

"Right, right," he said, shaking his head, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, "I'm ready."

Daniel stuffed his hands into his pockets, fiddling with the contents, so nervous that had he eaten before he came he might have been ill right here on the infirmary floor.

At least it would have been the place to be ill.

"It's a..."

Time slowed, Daniel reliving this all over again, when he had discovered that Adrienne was pregnant with his child, when they found out what they were having, the first time he held Nicholas in his arms, the day they took him home...

"...girl."

A girl.

He was going to be a father again, to a daughter, a beautiful daughter that he knew would be as breathtaking as her mother who was beaming at the doctor's words.

"A girl!" Adrienne was now in tears, reaching for Teyla who seemed equally emotional, the women hugging in excitement.

"Torren and Nicholas will be so pleased as will Saurza!" she declared Adrienne nodding her head excitedly, pulling back from Teyla, tapping her ear, calling for Vala to answer.

A girl.

A princess, his princess.

Oh shit, speaking of...

"Ad, wait, before you start telling everyone, here," he said, taking two slips out of his pocket, scanning the pieces of paper before handing one over to his wife, pointing at it for her to read.

"What's dis?"

"Save us some arguing, over names and whatnot," he replied, watching her eyes scan the paper, "it's a list of things we will not name my daughter."

If anything he really did deserve the glare being shot in his direction, one so menacing that were it not coming from the love of his life he would have been shaking in his boots.

Instead, he laughed, even harder as she flashed the piece of paper at him, pointing to the name at the top, which was bolded, highlighted, circled and underlined.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked, rolling her eyes, "I agree with Pam; Sookie IS an incredibly stupid name," she spat, reading down the list a touch further, "oh good."

"Good what?" he questioned, worried by her sudden change in expression.

"You left off Padme, so that's a go," she said with a smile, stuffing the note into her pocket.

"Who's that?" Daniel frowned, looking to Carson who was also shrugging.

"Luke and Leia's mom," she answered, rolling her eyes, "I knew you slept through the prequels."

"I can't win, can I?" Daniel sighed out, shaking his head.

"Stop ya worryin' Indy, I already had a name, well, a girl's name anyway," Adrienne said, smiling, walking back over to the picture of their child on the screen, her hand at Teyla's shoulder.

"Really?" he hadn't expected that, unless of course she had something worse than Sookie up her sleeve, oh dear lord what could be worse than Sookie, "What?"

"Helena," she said with a soft smile on her face, "Helena Sha're Jackson."

Daniel's heart stopped.

It wasn't the Helena, of course Adrienne would try to slip in something Greek into a child of theirs and that was a name that he didn't mind in the least, but it was the Sha're that had his mind racing.

"Ad," he started, choking up, reaching out his hand to take her into his arms despite the fact that they were not alone, Teyla still on the table, Carson standing there watching, the infirmary buzzing, "I don't understand."

"I've learned a lot since I met you, since you came into my life," she explained as she reached her hand to his cheek, pulling him close, "some things are meant to be, but some things are just steps along way, important steps, life defining steps. Without her, we would have none of this and I wouldn't have you, I don't know how I would have found you. I owe her my life."

He didn't know what to say, so many thoughts racing through his head, emotions, new and old, unaware of the tear streaming down his cheek until she was wiping it away.

"No name war? 'kay?" she whispered.

"No name war," he agreed, leaning in to kiss her softly, oblivious to anything else in the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Then, if Rodney can assure us that the MALP's have been repaired," Daniel said from the head of the table, the scientist already at his feet.

"They were working correctly in the first place if Adrienne could follow simple instructions!"

"Simple my tchew," she spat at she stood, leering over the table at him, " if ya donna ya damn job!"

"MY job? Dr. Jackson I'm doing the damn job of three people," he shot back, Jack watching Daniel's young Cajun wife nearly climbing the table after him.

He was so glad that Teyla had taken Nicholas for a while to play with Torren; he wouldn't want to miss this for the world.

"Watch it Rodney, she'll slug ya, I've seen her do it," Jack joked, Daniel clearing his throat.

"Ad, Rodney, please," oh how Jack loved it when Daniel squirmed, walking that fine line between being her boss and being her spouse.

_That's what ya get Danny boy for sleeping with the subordinates._

"He betta nah be goin' Daniel Antony I kid ya nah!" Adrienne directed her anger now at Daniel, full blown Cajun racing past her angrily pursed lips.

"Ad, the team is you, John, Ronon and Vala, Rodney will be operating the MALPs from the city-"

"The hell I will!" the scientist interrupted Daniel, who was now glaring at him himself, "I've got more important things to do to repair the gatebridge. Dr. JACKSON is the head of anthropology; let HER assistant operate the MALP!"

"Teyla donna know 'ow ta use da MALP!"

_Teyla, Dr. Perky's assistant? Wow, a lot more had happened today other than the ragin' Cajun letting her offspring be named after Daniel's first wife. _

_Kick ass Athosian alien turned baby oven turned nerd assistant. _

He and Sam really were the only sane people on this entire base.

"Then that might not have been the best CHOICE then Dr. Jackson was it?!"

"Imma gonna bust ya arrogant face!"

"STOP IT!" Daniel finally shouted, Adrienne fuming. Jack also knew that since Rodney had been so dismissive to Nicky while he was working on his learning blocks project, that now was just the perfect opportunity for Adrienne to take him down a few notches.

So very calculated that one could be at times; he really did like her.

"Rodney, YOU will monitor the MALP while Dr. Bosse continues work with the gate bridge. Since this is an anthropology matter, Adrienne will be leading the team off world while Teyla will maintain the lab," Daniel commanded, Jack smiling smugly.

Good call, he thought, and now argument number two.

"Then I request Sam, immediately. I need her assistance if you ever want to see Earth again in a reasonable amount of time," McKay was ready with what Jack and apparently Daniel had already expected.

"Sam is working on the DATA project, Rodney, you will have to make due and prioritize. MALPs have to be working in order for us to find gates anyway. That is your priority number one," Daniel was calm even though Adrienne still wasn't. The rest of the room, Jack's own wife included, shifted uncomfortably at the entire affair as Rodney sat down, grumbling about being overworked. Jack knew that was bull, Daniel had stopped by earlier today to discuss the Rodney situation with him and the man wasn't overworked. He was a spoiled brat and a control freak that didn't want to give up pet projects to do his job.

"As I was saying," Daniel carried on, trying to calm the room, "you leave tomorrow at 0900..."

Jack tuned him out, leaning over to whisper to Adrienne.

"I was hoping you'd clock him."

"I was sorely tempted," she smiled, shaking her head, "sorely tempted."

"You just gotta wait for the right moment," Jack added as Daniel wrapped up the briefing, "make it look like an accident."

Adrienne giggled, standing, starting to file out of the room when Daniel stopped her, grabbing her arm and looking for Jack to stay behind as well, Sam pausing at the door.

"You ok going? I talked to Jack and Sam earlier, either have volunteered to go," Daniel whispered, Jack nodding as was Sam. Daniel had, right after jumping up and down about having a daughter and before he had ranted about Rodney.

"Yeah, like I said, it's the name that bothers me, not them," Adrienne replied confidently, "besides I need to make sure that Luli isn't gonna try to come back here and steal my man."

Daniel frowned, as did Jack, but Adrienne winked, reaching to, of all things, pinch Daniel's butt.

"She thinks you're hot," Adrienne explained, pushing past laughing to leave the room, "I told her she didn't 'ave to live wit ya, then she'd change 'er mind."

Jack burst into laughter as Daniel rolled his eyes.

"I love her," he said, watching both Dr. Perky and Sam walk out into the main corridor, "she keeps you on your toes."

"Uh huh," Daniel grumbled, Jack laughing all the way down the hall to return to Nicholas.

He was thinking of kidnapping the boy for dinner; teach him how to barbecue properly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX

"Sir," Ford didn't even look up as he heard the man enter the room, too busy studying the city plans, "about half of the Athosians have stolen the other jumper and have left the hive. Shall we set a course for pursuit."

"Not necessary," he answered, making a mark on the paper, "they're headed right where I need them to go."

"Yes sir, and where are we headed?"

Aiden Ford looked up, blinking his black eyes.

"Atlantica. Full thrusters to Atlantica," he answered smugly, standing from his chair, "and bring me Jinto."


End file.
